The senate backed its concerns with citations of deteriorating buildings and increased class sizes.

The letter came as a result of a traditional meeting between the senate and provost, in which McNamee announced that the university had planned on adding an additional adminstrator, possibly in the undergraduate department.

By presenting statistics that reveal a sharp increase in the number of adminstrators and research faculty members over the past decade and comparing these numbers to the marginal advancement in the number of classroom instructors, senate representatives voiced their concerns that research could be becoming a priority.

Carol Burger, the interdisciplinary studies representative on the senate, said the university's plan for the addition of another administrator was perturbing, as Tech should focus first on benefitting the classroom experience.

"Those of us who teach humanities and general education, most of us don't have any help," Burger said. "It was general discontent with what we felt the attitude of the administration to be. Enthusiasm doesn't get us a new paint job in McBryde or a classroom big enough for our students. They want us to teach bigger classes, but there aren't classrooms for it."

After deliberating among themselves, the senate drafted the letter with their concerns and sent it to university provost Mark McNamee. Upon viewing the faculty's concerns, McNamee responded with a letter of his own, hitting several key points.

"I wrote a letter trying to clarify the misconceptions, and I outlined the points," McNamee said. "I wanted to discuss the value of teaching and research going together, and what specifically we can do during this financial time to reinsure that they have support."

Additionally, McNamee added that he would take note of the numbers presented, but because they date back 10 years and are broad in nature, they should be analyzed in depth before being officially addressed.

Though the general discontent with the quality of academic buildings and class sizes is certainly an issue to be addressed by the university, McNamee noted that it is not related to the university's goal of becoming a top research institute, and something that is mainly constrained by finances.

Both parties agree that the debate should not require a one or the another scenario, but rather a coinciding effort between research and classroom instruction to educate students effectively.

Addressing the issue of campus renovation, McNamee's explanation was simple. Because it is impossible to renovate an entire campus overnight, the university is taking measures to improve the quality of university life, one step at a time.

"While we are in a budget reduction period, we are still working together from different sources of money to promote the overall welfare of the students," McNamee said. "We're investing a lot in upgrading the classrooms on campus; every year 15 to 20 classrooms get renovated. Some of the new buildings are devoted entirely to teaching. It's an ongoing process to aid the total mission of the university."

Scott Geller, a nationally recognized researcher, professor of psychology, and author of several books, stressed the importance of unity, and promoting the undergraduate department through research.

Using the College of Science as an example, Geller stated why evidence- based lecture and research is so beneficial.

"When students can experience the scientific method, they get a profound understanding that their lectures doesn't come out of thin air or someone's armchair philosophy," Geller said. "They travel and present their research to other professionals. That is how we stay in the leading edge of information in our field. It is valuable instruction through participation."

McNamee agreed, adding that the university does not prioritize undergraduate education over enhancing research, or vice versa.

"The balance of research and teaching is the heart and soul of our university," McNamee said. "We hire faculty members, who have the ability to do both research and teaching, and they split their time between those two, which in the view of most educators, gets great research done because the students are involved."

McNamee said Tech has 1,400 faculty members who do both research and teaching and that the challenge is that most wish they could do even more.

"It's only when you have people who can blend those two that you have something special like we do at Virginia Tech," McNamee said.

Geller recently published a book centered on the Tech campus, titled Teaching Excellence at a Research Centered University. The book provides emphasizes the importance of energy, empathy, and engagement in the classroom. Geller gathered pieces from faculty members across campus, and then combined their work with a chapter of his own.

"When I did a content analysis of all the classrooms, I found that the best teachers have passion and energy, and get the students engaged," Geller said. "Research is a wonderful way to get students engaged. The best teachers have empathy, meaning they teach the principles and procedures with relevance to the student's lives."

Faculty Senate President Kerry Redican noted that the university's goal remains to provide the best possible undergraduate experience. He noted that even with McNamee's response, concerns still remain over the future of undergraduate teaching and improvements.

However, Redican also added that he understands why immediate action cannot be taken.

"Because Virginia Tech hasn't received all (funding) that it should, it's in a $60 million hole," Redican said. "Looking into the future an investment has been made in research, and though it's a tough decision, it was still made."

Redican said that while some of the teachers' issues have been addressed, the complex nature of the matter ensures that there is no quick and easy solution to be reached.

Adding that many of the concerns involve more 'when,' rather than 'if,' Redican said that higher education in general is resource starved, and in order to maintain universities' and keep them functioning, those resources must be acquired.

Redican expressed that there is no strife between any of the parties involved, stating that there is no finger pointing or contentious meaning.

Most significantly, McNamee noted that the well-being of the university and education of all its students is the most important campus initiative.

"We think of the long term health of the university," McNamee said. "The decisions that the university makes today will in some way affect us 20 years from now, but sometimes those decisions are not be what someone wants for tomorrow."