KENT STATE Controversy continues over computer courses

KSUTC plans to reinstate the course's for-credit status in April, a university official says.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CHAMPION -- Subcontracted employees teaching a Microsoft certification course are ready to break ties with Kent State University Trumbull Campus.
That's the message a group of about 200 students upset with KSU was expected to announce today.
William Hall of Salem said Friday that he and other students were to meet this morning and announce that instructors fed up with university policy are preparing to open their own facility to offer the course.
The upheaval began in December when the university sent a letter to students, saying the course would no longer be offered for credit.
The university earlier this year did not renew its contract with instructors working for IR Publishing, which is run by Dr. Sal Weingarten who has acted as program director for the course, Hall said.
Instead, the university reached an agreement with subcontracted instructors that would keep them working through May, Hall said.
Interim agreement: KSU presented a contract to Weingarten last week, saying instructors would be paid until qualified faculty members are hired to take over, Hall said. Weingarten could not be reached for comment.
A six-week Microsoft course that started in January is over; another is scheduled to begin soon, Hall said.
Bob Sines, assistant dean, said the Trumbull campus plans to reinstate the course's for-credit status in late April for all new students who enroll.
He denied Hall's contention that the university tried to convince subcontracted employees to leave IR Publishing and work for the university.
Beginning in April, Sines said, part-time adjunct professors will teach the course instead of outsourced instructors. The adjunct staff will be certified by Microsoft.
Grievance: The American Association of University Professors, representing KSU faculty, has contested the hiring of outsourced instructors, saying university professors should be teaching the course.
Hall says KSU faculty did not contest the hiring until the course became successful.
The course began last February and certifies students as systems engineers and database administrators to maintain software for large corporate computer networks.
Youngstown State University offers a similar Microsoft certification course to train systems engineers.
Julie Sharrow, YSU's program developer for information technology, said the course meets in Austintown.
Students who have attended the KSU course will not likely enroll for the YSU course, Hall said, because it costs more and is not offered for credit.
Sines said students enrolled in the KSU course before the spring semester were told ahead of time the course would no longer be offered for credit.
However, Sines said those same students were grandfathered, meaning they were allowed to continue toward for-credit certification.
Hall said the Equal Justice Foundation of Columbus is preparing to file a class action lawsuit against the university on students' behalf. IR Publishing also plans to file a lawsuit, he said.