Bennett Strange

An ongoing count by Bennett Strange, an associate professor of communication arts who has been affiliated with the college for some 53 years and is retiring at the end of this term, puts the tally at 49 who have left, for various reasons, out of 71 faculty members since the 2004-5 academic year.

Not all of the faculty members who have left have done so as a result of Aguillard's presidency, his interpretation of the college's mission, or any new policies.
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For Strange, the Louisiana professor who is retiring this year, the most painful aspect of the college's recent direction is what he sees as the declining quality of his students."I've always said that I was going to teach here until it wasn't fun any longer, and that point came last year.It just stopped being fun."

Strange is accepting an offer Aguillard's administration is making to older members of the faculty that allows them to continue to receive the college's extremely generous health benefits - free care for them as well as their spouses, for life - that were bestowed upon those hired before 1998 who'd been at the college for at least 10 years.

Financial realities have since nudged the board toward more modest offerings, but several older faculty members still benefiting from the original policy, like Strange, 70, are choosing to retire this year - some early - in order to keep the benefits.

Strange acknowledged that he didn't see anything overly sinister about the retirement offers, although he added "they'd be glad to get rid of us."

Bennett Strange - Program Director - Lousiana College, Associate Professor of Communication Arts, Box 554, Pineville, LA 71359, (318) 487 - 73213 - O (8 : 30 - 4 : 00pm), (318) 487 - 7191 - Fax