Maryland university lays off award-winning computer science lecturer

CHARLES LIN HAS met with students at all hours and has often spent nights on a futon in his office at the University of Maryland, but because of budget cuts, Lin–who received the Outstanding Instructor Award from the College of Computer, Mathematics and Physical Sciences in 2001–will have to move his blanket and pillow and find a new place to work.

Lin, 34, will lose his position as a lecturer after this summer because the computer science department is cutting lecturer positions in response to a budget crunch.

“Initially I was shocked, I guess,” Lin said. “You know, why me in particular?”

Students were shocked as well; when word that he would not be returning began to spread, fliers spoofing the TV show “Survivor” were posted anonymously urging students to contact the computer science department’s administration before Lin was kicked out.

“I was touched by the fact that people went to all this effort and they were really creative in their effort,” he said.

He did not, however, think the campaign would save his job.

Chairman Larry Davis said the department will not renew the contracts of three of its 12 lecturers next year. One of the instructors had already planned to leave.

Davis also said the department will hire about 12 fewer graduate assistants. It currently supports about 75.

A decreasing number of computer science majors has decreased the department’s demand for instructors, Davis said. Without financial pressure, however, the department would have reduced section sizes instead.

The decision to cut Lin and other lecturers has concerned some students. Jane Hwang, a sophomore computer science major, said she is upset because she attends this university because of its teachers.

“The teachers are the most important part of our education, because they are the ones who inspire us,” Hwang said.

Hwang said prior to taking Lin’s class she had considered dropping her major, but he motivated her to stick with computer science.

“He made it more human,” Hwang said. “It wasn’t just about computers, it wasn’t just about programming, it was about learning.”

Though she said his projects were so difficult they sometimes made her want to cry from frustration, Hwang always finished them with a sense of accomplishment.

In addition, she said Lin was a great source of advice, even for things unrelated to class. When Hwang was seeking an internship, he gave her advice on who to look up and looked over her cover letter.

Lin said he thinks students care more about what happens outside of class and how well he knows them than they care about his lectures. However, he admitted his class has suffered because he is disorganized. One peek at his office reveals little floor space, and Lin says the shelves and floor hold 500 to 600 mostly unread books in stacks.

When the lack of organization affects his class, students have complained, Lin said.
Ryan Lem, a sophomore computer science major, said he disliked Lin’s style in terms of efficiency.

“He goes off on wild tangents,” Lem said. “As a result, you kind of don’t get as much as you’d want from a lecture.”

Nevertheless, Lin still has many fans. As he walks down the hallway, students wave at him and give him updates on their courses.
Davis said he has answered six to 10 letters from students concerned about losing lecturers and has met with several students to discuss matters.

“The choice of which instructors to continue was tough … really awful,” Davis said. “Everybody loves Charles, but we had to choose somebody.”

The Tennessee-raised Lin earned two masters degrees from the University of Maryland: One in electrical engineering and another in computer science. He has been teaching there full-time since 1998.

After searching for another teaching job, Lin realized that other universities across the nation were suffering from similar budget crises and began looking for a job in computer programming. He will be interviewing with Microsoft next week and thinks the job may even help him become more regimented, so that he will be a more organized lecturer if he does return to teaching.

“I try to look at it positively and say ‘Well, now it’s a chance to do something new,’” he said. “Then [I’ll] be able to say “This is how it’s done in the real world.’”