WARRENSBURG, Mo. --At a time when companies and organizations are undergoing budget cuts and layoffs, higher education is not in the clear. Budgetary cutbacks are already beginning to hit UCM and rumblings on campus suggest this is only the beginning. Every department is being asked to downsize where it can, even if that means thinning out its faculty or combining courses.

Toward the end of September, the Muleskinner received numerous phone calls from concerned students and alumni from the Aviation Department. Every caller expressed their concerns with a change that had been made in their department; a change that confused them.

Fred Schieszer, a Central emeriti faculty member, has devoted a large portion of his life both to aviation and to Central. He attended Central for his undergraduate degree and put himself through school by working at a small airport. Schieszer then spent six years in the Coast Guard, flying helicopter rescue missions. After his time in the Coast Guard, Schieszer returned to Central.

"I came back here after I spent my time in the Coast Guard and went through grad school," Schieszer said. "The dean took me to lunch one day and asked me why I hadn't applied to work here, which was kind of funny because I'd said several years earlier that I would sure like to teach here."

Schieszer began teaching at Central in 1976 and in 2002 he retired becoming an emeriti faculty member. He qualified for emeriti status because he was over the age of 50, was a retired faculty member in good status and had passed his 10 year anniversary at Central. Schieszer continued to teach and be involved and has been a part of the Aviation Department in some capacity for 33 years.

TEACHING AT CENTRAL
Making the choice between working for TWA and teaching at CMSU was an easy one said Schieszer.

"I was here when they started the aviation program," Schieszer said. "I actually came over and helped one of the teachers in the program teach a class because he didn't know a lot about that particular class. So, I enrolled in the class and helped him teach it and I thought 'you know this is something I'd really like to do.' "

Schieszer has participated in a variety of areas. He's taught classes, been an advisor for multiple UCM aviation groups, mentored students, worked with the Honors College and served on departmental committees for scholarship and safety. Of all his activities, Schieszer said he does have some favorites.

"Working with students has to be number one," Schieszer said. "If it comes to classes I've got two favorite classes that up until this semester I've gotten to teach. One is an undergraduate class in aerodynamics and the other one is a graduate class, aircraft accident investigation."

To help his class better understand the techniques they learn in the classroom, Schieszer often recreates crash sites so students can gain hands on knowledge.

"The only way to make aviation safer is to analyze what goes wrong," Schieszer said. "Only through accident investigation and analyzing the failures can we keep things from happening again."

During these recreations, Schieszer often gets help from alumni. However, the most recent recreation was a little different.

"For my last class [of the semester] I set up a wrecked airplane in a field and I had people from three different states show up that were alumni, to help me," Schieszer said. "I usually have two or three people at breakfast Saturday morning and there were probably four or five tables worth of people waiting for me when I walked in. It's been a very humbling experience."

The group of supporters was due in large portion to news that had reached alumni and current students. Those that contacted the Muleskinner were upset because they had just learned that one of their favorite teachers had been fired, or so they thought.

Word of Schieszer's supposed firing spread quickly through the UCM aviation community. One individual that contacted the Muleskinner, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed his concern about the future of the department without Schieszer. When asked about his impact on the University, Schieszer drew from a former colleague.

"There was another fellow who taught here a few years ago by the name of Ted Nickel and he said 'If you get to feeling pretty important, you put your hand in a bucket of water and then you pull your hand out and you see the impression you've left," Schieszer said chuckling.

HERE'S THE SKINNY
William Rankin, Aviation Department chair, said he thinks people have been misinformed about why Schieszer will not return in the spring.

"I don't know that they [students and alumni] know the real story," Rankin said. "Apparently it's been going around that we fired Fred [Schieszer]. We cannot fire an emeriti faculty. They're an adjunct, just like any other adjunct."

After news of Schieszer's possible firing hit the students, Rankin attempted to clear things up with a prepared letter. It explained changes being made concerning courses and how interest in certain programs had changed. The last paragraph of the letter addressed Schieszer.

"This is a letter that we sent out to faculty, staff, and I make it available to students and whomever," Rankin said. "And I made it available to Fred."

The letter described Schieszer as having a "well-deserved reputation as an effective instructor." It also explained that "as a result of the economy, Schieszer's services will not be needed in the Spring 2010 semester."

"The only thing we've told him is that we're not going to be using him next semester," Rankin said concerning Schieszer's alleged firing.

Schieszer's reaction was one of shock and disappointment. But as seems to be the pattern with Schieszer, he was concerned about the students.

"The day that they told me I was being let go I went around and literally begged several faculty members to take over as sponsors of those student organizations so that they wouldn't lose their status," Schieszer said. "I didn't want them to get hurt just because of what happened to me."

Jayme Medlin, assistant professor of aviation, is a former master's student of Schieszer's and will now be taking over his aircraft accident investigation course.
Medlin said she was very surprised when Schieszer told her that he would not be here for the Spring 2010 semester.

"I was blown away, I mean I was like dumbfounded," Medlin said. "I kept saying 'there's no way, there's no way.' I was in a state of shock. One of the reasons that I chose to come back here and teach was to work with him and learn from him and now that's not going to happen."

Medlin said Schieszer always put the students first and she thinks he portrays what a professor should be.

"He cares about the students, he'll do anything for the students," Medlin said. "And you would hope all professors would do that, but its not always the case. He goes out of his way to help the students if they have a situation or a problem. He knows that as professors we're all here because of the students.That's our primary job, is to educate the students, and they're paying our paychecks."

THE REASONING
The reasons for Schieszer's departure seem to focus around meeting the needs of the full-time faculty, as well as funding.

"It is simply, with the economy students are taking fewer classes, we have had some major curriculum changes in the department, eliminating some programs, redesigning some programs and we simply do not have the courses for him to teach in the spring if we are to have a full load for our faculty," said Alice Greife, Dean of the College of Science and Technology.

Rankin said changes are being made concerning the use of adjunct faculty and full-time faculty.

"The only instructors we are going to continue on a long term basis using every semester are the full-time tenured track faculty, because they take the first priority," Rankin said. "For the adjunct instructors, we're going to be rotating those adjuncts more frequently then we have in the past just because we want the students to have different viewpoints from different people. We don't use every adjunct instructor every semester, it just doesn't happen. That's common practice for us."

Rankin said there has been a decrease in income and the department is making changes accordingly.

"There are funding issues. We've had a reduction in the total number of students," Rankin said. "This year our operations at the airport, the number of flight hours we flew was less, so there was about a $200,000 reduction in overall income from our flight fees."

WITHOUT SCHIESZER
Schieszer said there is no doubt in his mind that the department will carry on, but how does he feel about not returning in the spring?

"I can't even imagine," Schieszer said. "I guess I get to look forward to what I'm going to do next. I told my wife, 'Gee, I hope I don't find a better job before they decide that they made a mistake and want me to come back.' I don't know that that will happen."

Medlin said she plans to do her best in her new role, teaching aircraft accident investigation.

"I can't fill his shoes and I've told him that over and over and over again," Medlin said. "There's no way I could fill his shoes. All I can do is try and give the information that I have from the years that I spent doing accident investigation to the students. But no one will ever take Fred's place."

Schieszer added that he hopes he's made a difference while at Central.

"I hope I've made an impression, I hope they (the students) are safer," Schieszer said. "I've had a lot of students that took aerodynamics and said 'I don't need to know that I'm a pilot' or 'I don't need to know that I'm an avionics technician,' whatever and they'll call me back and say 'I sure am glad you made me learn that.' So I think I've made a difference."

Greife said Schieszer is a very valued member of the department, but right now the budget is helping make the decisions.

"It would not be in the best interest of the department, as a budget manager, to have a full-time faculty that have one or two courses and then hire an adjunct or emeriti," Greife said. "If the situation changes and we have more students and we need to offer more sections or something like that in the fall, or next spring or anytime in the future, and Fred is available to teach with us, we would be delighted to have him come back."