Professor Gina Park (COL ’86), an adjunct in the French department, is filing an affirmative action complaint against the university. She is alleging discrimination against single mothers after her contract was not renewed for next semester. Park also said that the department has a “revolving door” policy toward its adjuncts that she believes hurts both the careers of the professors and the quality of undergraduate education.

Park, who has worked in the French department for seven years, said her contract was not renewed because emergencies involving her three children sometimes caused her to miss class. She said several attempts to reach a compromise of a one-semester extension of her contract were unsuccessful. Park said that because Chair of the French department, Deborah Lesko-Baker, had not agreed to mediation services offered through the Office of Affirmative Action Programs, her next step was to pursue a formal complaint against the university.

“I hate to say that as it stands now and from what I feel right now, I’m ready to go full force with a complaint,” Park said. She said she regretted that a compromise could not be reached.

Lesko-Baker would not comment on the matter. “It is not our practice to comment upon internal personnel issues,” Lesko-Baker said via e-mail, citing “the importance of our maintaining appropriate procedures in this matter in fairness to all concerned.” In a letter dated March 12, Lesko-Baker said she would not reconsider her decision to terminate Park’s position, reiterating the temporary conditions specified in her contract. “I would remind you that this department faces financial constraints and that you and I have discussed issues related to your performance on several occasions during your time in the department,” Lesko-Baker said in the letter to Park.

According to Park, the performance issues to which Lesko-Baker refers primarily concern the occasional missed class or tardiness that Park said were the result of emergencies involving her three children, ages 11, eight and seven.

Park said that to her knowledge, there were very few negative comments about her teaching performance. She said Lesko-Baker had reported to her that one student complained when Park’s cell phone rang during class, but said her students had never complained directly to her and had been very supportive.

“My classes are always full, I have solid evaluations and positive letters from students,” Park said.

Peter Treut (COL ’05) said that though Park had missed a class because of family emergencies, it had not disrupted the overall instruction. “She has a lot of experience; it’s a good class,” Treut said. “She missed a class . but it had no bearing on her ability to teach. There was no question that when she was there, she was ready to teach.” Treut was in Parks Advanced French I and II courses.

Lesko-Baker requested further questions be directed to Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille, who said she could not comment directly on the matter. “As a matter of university policy I do not comment on internal personnel matters such as this. These issues are being taken seriously and will be addressed through the appropriate private university forum. We will not discuss them publicly through news media,” she said.

A letter to Park from University Provost Dorothy Brown concerning the adjunct’s spring 2002 contract clarifies the short-term nature of the position. “Appointments of this nature are temporary by definition and do not carry with them either explicitly or by length of service any entitlement to tenure,” Brown said in the letter, dated Oct. 2, 2001.

In February, Park wrote Lesko-Baker to request that the department head reconsider the termination of Park’s contract. In the Feb. 17 letter, Park said she believed her recent promotion from part-time to full-time adjunct had been a “managerial tactic” that would allow the department to dismiss her later, “on the grounds of a budget deficit.”

Park said that because she was an alumna, it was especially hard for her to decide to take action against the university. “It’s just even more upsetting that Georgetown would turn its back on me in a time of need,” Park said. “I graduated summa cum laude, I’ve been a part of the community for many years – its very disillusioning.”

Park said she was apprehensive about the future if she cannot continue her position at Georgetown for at least one more semester. “If I do not teach next semester, I will have no way of supporting myself or my three children, The prospects of landing a decent job for only three months before I leave for New Jersey are bleak,” Park said in an April 11 letter to Brown. Park said a compromise of a one-semester extension of her contract would permit her to provide for her family until the end of the semester, when she plans to move from the Washington, D.C., area with her fiance following the completion of her current divorce proceedings.

Bataille said hiring decisions regarding adjunct professors at Georgetown are made by taking three primary factors into account: demonstrated need for the position, funding levels of the respective department or college and the academic credentials and qualifications of the professor.

In a 2000-01 evaluation of the French department conducted for the Middle States Reaccredidation process, reviewers said the department’s adjunct staff was, “an exceptionally committed and talented group of individuals . while we realize that budgetary constraints are such that these faculty members are unlikely to receive salaries fully commensurate with their skills, it is in the interests of the undergraduates enrolled in French that the adjunct faculty be as stable as possible from year to year.” Reviewers also said they hoped “all possible steps will be taken to keep this team in place.”

Park said she felt the “revolving door” system applied to adjunct hires in the department is detrimental to the undergraduates and said she wanted to “mobilize adjuncts to help improve our working conditions and to raise awareness that this kind of a policy is in place.” Park posted fliers around campus that read “Adjuncts Unite – better wages, job security and benefits.” She said she hoped to get adjuncts together to work towards longer, more stable contracts and better pay.

Treut said that as a student, he believed the quality of teaching should be the first concern. “I can see the business side of it, but that’s obviously less important than people who have been here longer and are more equipped to teach,” he said.

Park said that if the matter cannot be resolved within the university, she will be forced to seek an outside lawsuit against Georgetown.