Professor’s illness causes confusion, class reshuffling

Spanish Professor Ivan Ruiz-Ayala is recovering after becoming ill during study abroad last summer, and his absence has caused some last minute confusion and rearrangement in the Spanish department. 
Dr. Tony Alcarria, a friend and colleague of Dr. Ruiz-Ayala for five years, said Ruiz-Ayala became ill while he was in a study abroad program in his native Peru.  When Alcarria heard this, he said he was shocked.
“I always thought of him to be a very healthy person, (who) would exercise regularly and care about his health,” Alcarria said.
Alcarria said that because of Ruiz-Ayala’s absence, the Chair of the Modern Foreign Language Department, Roger Noel, had to hire a temporary Spanish professor.
“We were all teaching a full load before this happened, and therefore hiring an instructor that would substitute Dr. Ruiz-Ayala during Fall semester was the only possibility, not to cancel his courses,” Alcarria said.
Alcarria said it should be a smooth transition for students because the teachers would use the same teaching material, textbooks and syllabi that Ruiz-Ayala would use.  The only difference in the courses would be the instructor.
Alcarria also said he has been talking regularly with Ruiz-Ayala during his recovery and he seems to be doing well.
“There is not a time we talk on the phone that he does not express his eagerness to be back in the classrooms in spring semester,” Alcarria said.
Noel has also been in contact with Ruiz-Ayala and he said although he is in rehabilitation every day, the department hopes to have him back in the Spring.
“We’re hoping he’ll be back, not just because we need him, but because he is a nice person,” Noel said.
Noel hired Adeline Rosales-Martin as a temporary Spanish instructor to help teach Ruiz-Ayala’s courses.  Because Ruiz-Ayala specialized in upperlevel classes and Latin American cultures, not all of his courses could be handed over to Rosales-Martin.
“I’ve had to reshuffle all the assignments,” Noel said.
Noel also said Jesse Hingson, an assistant professor of history, has been kind enough to take on the Seminar of Contemporary Latin American Culture, a class Ruiz-Ayala would have taught this semester.
This “reshuffling” has caused some confusion for students.  Some of the course sections that students had already registered for were closed, and the students had to re-register for classes at different times.  Many students’ schedules would not allow them to do this.
Emily Ballard, a mass communication senior, said that the Spanish four class for which she registered was closed.  She got an e-mail from Noel telling her to re-register for another section.  The problem was that she had an important mass communication class at the same time.
“This is my senior year,” Ballard said.  “This is a class I have to have, and they’re changing the time to a time I can’t meet.”
Ballard said a lot of students had the same problem she did, and because of e-mail feedback from the students, the department decided to open another class at the original time, but with a different teacher.
Ballard said the rearrangement caused her class size to be bigger than usual, but that did not bother her.
“I’m just glad it’s at the same time and I don’t have to rearrange my schedule,” Ballard said.
Ballard also had some problems once Fall semester started because she was not on her teacher’s role.  She ended up going to the Registrar’s Office for an add/drop form, and Noel signed it even though the add deadline had already passed.
“It did cause some stress and a little chaos, but ultimately everything worked out,” said Ballard.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 29 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry