<p>Yes, the two-credit is an ESS course, which is why I don’t care about it. I would expect an adjunct instructor, even if Smith did not have a graduate program.</p>
<p>It’s not the non-PhD component I care most about but rather the priorities of the instructor. The weaker instructor is teaching an upper level course that counts toward the major and has canceled a few classes because of his or her own workload. To be fair, my D says he (or she – I can’t remember which) knows the material, but he is just not as demanding as other professors. She is not complaining – I am. In fact, she is somewhat relieved by the easy nature of the course because she has been working on grad school applications all semester. Although she would like a more intellectually challenging atmosphere, it would have been much harder to complete the applications, which took about the time and effort of another course. </p>
<p>Now that I know that UMass grad students have been used at Smith in the past, I’m not as ticked off. It kinda was the luck of the draw this semester, I guess. After all, she could have had a weak Smith prof (fortunately, she’s had only one of those) instead. I was just concerned that Smith was not filling professor slots and instead turning to UMass for cheaper, non-benefit-requiring instructors. </p>
<p>Thanks for your reply, S&P.</p>