Walking through the halls of the English department four years ago was filled with excitement. Students were passionate about what they were learning from various skilled and knowledgeable professors.  

It used to be even more vibrant years before that.  

A decade or more ago, the department was filled with energy.  

There were six to eight full-time faculty and 70 to 80 English majors bustling around the department, office doors stayed open later into the evening, students were excited to learn, and professors were excited to teach.  

Cassie Papandrea, a part-time English professor and Castleton alum, reflected back on her time as a student at Castleton.   

“The English majors would sit on the couches in Leavenworth and discuss the books we were reading for our classes or what writing pieces we were working on. We had the opportunity to take a variety of literature, writing, and pedagogy-based courses because there were so many members of the department. This allowed for our curiosity and our passions for these topics to grow,” she said.   

There were even enough majors and faculty for the department to sustain three concentrations: British Literature, Children’s Literature and American Literature.   

One of the full-time professors, Drennan Spitzer, taught Children’s literature, which was a big hit for education students.   

“People were busting down the doors to get into those classes and Drennan was teaching classes in Children’s Literature that were special topics and so there was a lot more variety, a lot more excitement about that,” current department Chair Andrew Alexander said.   

English professor Flo Keyes also reflected on a time when the department was much livelier. She used to sit in her office until 9 p.m. grading work and other faculty would stay until 7 p.m. doing work as well.   

“There was a robust evening program with part-time faculty teaching philosophy, which was actually part of the English department, and writing and speech for largely non-trads [non-traditional students] at night and while there’s still some of that, people teach and go home,” Keyes said. “They [professors] don’t want to be here because the atmosphere is not positive.”  

The atmosphere of the English department has changed quite a bit since those days. This semester, with Chris Boettcher on sabbatical, there are 1½ full-time professors in the English department.   

“Now of course, since we merger, which was forced on us and not something we wanted, there are more people at Lyndon and Johnson. So, we might have seven total at all three schools,” Keyes said.   

There’s not enough faculty for a sustainable program.   

With so few full-time professors, many of the part-time professors have to take on higher-level courses.  

“There is an expectation on the part of students when they come to a college that the majority of their major courses will be taught by full-time faculty,” Keyes said. “And that is not to disparage the qualifications of my peers because they are excellent teachers with great qualifications. It’s just that to call yourself a university, you ought to be able to offer the major courses and have full-time faculty teach them.”    

During the merger, both students and faculty were facing a chaotic time.   

“The merger was a little chaotic, and I know that is the case in probably every department. There was a lack of communication and uncertainty about course requirements, professor positions, and the future direction of the department,” says senior Caroline Gould, an education major with a concentration in English.   

“I feel deeply for those professors who have dedicated countless years to this school who, truthfully, got the short end of the stick to put it simply. If you take a step back and put things into perspective, there are a few that left because of the dysfunction of the merger,” she continued.   

English students faced great uncertainty during the merger. Since most of their favorite professors would no longer be teachers at VTSU Castleton, they didn’t know the hands their educations lay in.   

“During the time of the merger, my position as an English major felt threatened,” started senior and English major Rosie Phalen.    

“The first thing the administration attempted to cut was the library. Not only does this have a negative impact on English majors, but essentially all majors because it is a resource to all of us. Pretty soon after that, many of the professors were essentially being forced out,” she continued.  

“I felt like such central parts of the humanities departments were being stolen from us as paying students, and further being taken from our community,” she said.   

Students aren’t the only ones in the English department who might feel unsure of their place at VTSU Castleton.   

During the time of the buyout, a couple of years ago, there were 14 full-time English faculty in the VTSU system and the maximum number that would have been accepted for the buyouts were nine. 

Keyes explained that although some were already planning on retiring, it seemed to have sped up the process for others. 

That did not used to be the case.   

“There was this sense that you would probably be here unless you chose to go somewhere else,” Keyes said.   

A couple great losses for the English department were Denny Shramek and Tersh Palmer. Students took their absence to heart as they continue their studies at VTSU Castleton. 

“Losing professors like Tersh and Denny, and soon Flo, had a big impact. They were not just knowledgeable, but deeply passionate and invested in their students and their position as English professors,” Gould said. “It sometimes feels like we lost part of the heart of the department, and in my opinion, we did.”  

Losing these professors also led to a decreased variety in the classes. One course used to be taught by multiple professors, not because there was a faculty shortage, but because students deserved to have multiple perspectives of a subject to have a more well-rounded understanding and learning experience.   

Keyes and Boettcher used to alternate teaching World Literature. With Keyes retiring, Boettcher will be teaching it on his own.   

“There will be Chris, and he may do an excellent job teaching World Lit, but you’re only going to see World Lit one way because you don’t get another professor who teaches it in a different way. And I don’t think that’s right. I really think that diversity of teaching is important.” Keyes said.   

 Another unexpected and some say unwelcomed change brought on by the merger was the number of online courses students are forced to take.   

“For many students, taking online courses is not how they learn the best, and they feel like they can’t get to know their professors as well through a screen. Building relationships benefits both students and professors. Professors can tailor their teaching to support the needs of individual students, and students can look to professors for mentoring and extra support, both academically and many times personally,” Papandrea said.  

Moving forward Alexander notes some things that need to be kept in mind to help the English department grow.   

“So, one of the things that we have to think about, and planning for the next 10 years, is how do we attract students in ways that they think what we have to offer is something that they would like to get. And right now, we’re sort of boxed into the idea that we train teachers and people who want to go to grad school,” Alexander said. “We’ve been—I’ve been since I was chair and even after that—banging the drum that says, ‘hey, listen, you know, some of the biggest business success stories in our culture, were English majors: politicians, business leaders, lawyers, you know, activists, musicians.’ Do you know the band, The Police? Sting was an English major,” continued Alexander.  

Phalen paused when asked if she would’ve chosen English as her major had she known this would be the course of her education, then said yes.  

“I would have chosen English either way. I fell in love with English after learning about Hunter S. Thompson. He really inspired me to pursue writing. Although, and I feel sad in saying this, I may not have chosen Castleton,” Phalen said.  

“The professors that I’ve had have been amazing, however, it has been detrimental to see them diminish, as well as the opportunity to expand my education diminish, as a result of professors being pushed out,” Phalen said.