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Letter to the Editor:
Bursell's job DOA. Huge loss for UAS students
By Kim Porter
Thanks to the depth
of expertise and contributions given by Jamie Bursell, instructor
of the Human Anatomy and Physiology course at UAS, her course has
been rendered a huge success. However, UAS has decided to cut instructor
Jamie Bursell from the program. At the end of this semester, Jamie
will no longer be invited to teach the course she made so popular
among students and the community.
While her hired replacement can undoubtedly boast more
papered credentials, it is not a Ph.D. that is to be credited for
the success Jamie has in her A&P class. It is her unique level
of experience—and indeed her passion—along with her particular
strengths of resourcefulness, devotion, and teaching skills that
make the course a high caliber learning experience as well as a
hands-on opportunity that her students crave. Unbridled enthusiasm
like Jamie’s cannot help but be contagious. It is obvious to
her students that she loves her job.
Jamie’s UAS teaching career began in the summer
of 1999 when the university contacted her in the hope that she could
teach the A&P class. With Jamie, they struck gold. Her remarkable
resume, which includes a long history of teaching at university
medical school programs, was further evidence that she was the perfect
instructor for the position. Jamie not only agreed to teach for
UAS, but also threw herself into the task, and in a short time had
the course in full swing. That first summer she pulled off a miracle
by condensing the year-long course into an intense 10-week session.
Further, while some instructors may be satisfied with
using fetal pigs in the A&P lessons, Jamie knew a much greater
learning experience occurs when students are allowed to work with
human cadavers. In preparation for the fall 1999 semester, Jamie
drew upon her resources and affiliations with colleagues in the
WAMI (Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) medical education program
to acquire a cadaver for the class. This was a first for UAS. The
course now has two cadavers and is one of the most popular at UAS—more
than 50 students enrolled in her class last fall.
So now, after all the energy she has put into developing
and presenting the A&P course, Jamie has been stiffed. UAS has
dropped the ax on her teaching career here in favor of any candidate
who has higher academic credentials. The manner in which UAS went
about notifying her is appalling. She was neither told that she
was being replaced, nor that her job was being advertised, until
the hiring was already in progress. Jamie learned about the contrivance
only by happenstance, not directly from UAS itself—a student
informed her that UAS had hired someone for her teaching position!
Perhaps most disturbing is the amount of disrespect shown to her
by UAS.
As an adjunct faculty, money is not Jamie’s driving
force for teaching. The pay is minimal and hardly worth the time
spent preparing for and teaching the class. Two evenings a week
away from her husband and children are hardly motivational factors
for Jamie to teach either. What inspires her to teach A&P is
her love for the subject and her desire to teach others what she
knows about the human body.
Students of her past and present classes will agree
that Jamie Bursell is by far one of the best instructors currently
teaching at UAS. It is obvious that whoever came up with the idea
to replace her did not get any input from her students. UAS has
no idea what a rare treasure it is losing. If UAS claims to be a
teaching school, why is it replacing one of its best?
It’s not too late for UAS to do the right thing.
The newly hired faculty will have his hands full with other biology
courses, so why not let Jamie continue teaching her course? Alaska
prides itself in its valuable resources, but we have under-appreciated
one that is right here at home. If I were the university and had
to make the decision on whether to send Jamie Bursell packing, my
answer would be clear. Over my dead body!
Kim Porter is a senior at UAS, currently enrolled in the Human Anatomy
and Physiology course.
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