Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, April 26, 2013 Page: 2 of 8
eight pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Friday 04.26.2013
2
Petition aims to keep RTVF professor at UNT
Joshua Knopp
Staff Writer
Radio, television and film
professor Heather Butler's contract
will not be renewed next year in
spite of widespread support from
RTVF students.
The reason for the lack of
renewal is unknown.
RTVF senior Candice Lott said
Butler told her it was a budget cut,
but President V. Lane Rawlins
later said on April 10 that "There
is not, nor has there ever been,
a plan that involves laying off
faculty."
He also said that there wasn't
"contemplation of faculty being
laid off."
Additionally, Butler does not
know of any other RTVF faculty
who are being let go,
HEATHER
BUTLER
A Cfe or ding
to the Texas
Tribune, Butler
made just under
$11,000 per year
as of last year.
RTVF depart-
ment chair
Alan Albarran
declined comment.
Senior vice provost for academic
affairs Yolanda Niemann said
the decision to let adjuncts go
Could depend on what classes are
needed from semester to semester.
"The decisions on which
adjuncts are returned are deter-
mined by several factors,"
Niemann said. "The fundamental
question is, 'What do our students
need to graduate?' And that's
where we should be allocating
our resource®.
Butler has taught various film
courses at UNT starting in fall
2011. She said she was shocked
when she learned she was being
let go.
"It's hard to get a job in
academia because it takes a year
to get full time," she Said. "So to
have a job and be let go is diffi-
cult."
The decision to let Butler go was
met with strong backlash from
Current and former students. Lott
went so far as to start a petition
on gopetition.com.
"I asked her what classes
she would be teaching, and
she informed me she wasn't
returning," Lott said. "The deci-
sion to eliminate such an intelli-
gent, hard-working, passionate
"It's hard to get a job in
academia because it takes
a year to get full time
-Heather Butler, radio, television and film professor
and enthusiastic teacher from the
staff was, in my opinion, a terrible
mistake."
Other students had Similar
opinions. RTVF senior, Michael
Sauer, said Butler is the "lynchpin
of the department."
RTVF senior Jesse Cranford
said Butler "is absolutely irre-
placeable," and RTVF senior
Julian Castorena said he would
have "fallen through the cracks"
without Butler's guidance.
Lott's petition has 125 signa-
tures at the time of print.
Butler said while she didn't
think the peition would reverse
the decision, she was inspired by
what it meant.
"It is effective because it's there.
It's a witness that I mattered to
Students," she said. "She [Lott]
is the reason for teaching. She's
exactly the kind of student that
would make me think it's absurd
to stop teaching,"
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
COL LEGE/of
USIC
SUMMER COURSES
OPEN TO ALL UNT STUDENTS!
MAY SEMESTER
MUET 3020 — Pop Music in American Culture Internet class
(Human Community or Capstone)
SUMMER I
Ml, H I 3020 — Pop Music in American Culture
(Human Community or Capstone)
MLTMH 3000 — Nineteenth-Century Music
(Visual and Performing Arts)
Ml Mil 20 10 — Music Appreciation
(Visual and Performing Arts)
SUMMER II
Ml I T 3020 — Pop Music in American Culture Internet class
(Human Community or Capstone)
Ml I T 3030 — Music Cultures of the World
(Human Community or Humanities)
MLTBT 3617 — African Music and Movement (1 credit)
MUMH 3010 - Twentieth—Century Music
(Visual and Performing Arts)
Ml Ml 1 1600 — Music in Human Imagination
(Visual and Performing Arts)
SCENE
COMEDY
UNT Improv joins
Performance Interest
Group for show
Online
SNOBS
Old House BBQ not
best in town but great
option near campus
Online
COOKING
Homemade chocolate
chip cheesecake is good
for indulging
Online
Cover Photo by Nicole Arnold/Senior Staff Photographer
for more stories visit ntdaily.com
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Harvey, Holly. Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, April 26, 2013, newspaper, April 26, 2013; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth337026/m1/2/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.