To the Editor:

Re: “Undergrads May Teach FWS to Reduce Cost,” News, Sept. 21

I am writing to provide some clarification to my quotes in this article. I feel that, through no one’s fault but my own, my quotes may have been slightly misunderstood. I now realize that I was unclear in expressing my sentiments aptly during the interview.

Regarding the segment in which I was quoted as saying that the practice of having graduate students teach FWS courses is unsatisfactory, I would like to clarify by saying that I am very comfortable with having a graduate student teach a course, so long as the subject matter is within his/her area of academic focus in his/her graduate program. For me, it is important that the instructor is deeply invested in studying and teaching the course material, and that is why I expressed the preference that my instructor either have or be working toward a degree in the subject matter. Further, I would like to clarify that I did not feel that my FWS instructor “did not seem competent in handling the class on her own,” nor have I ever felt that a Cornell instructor was not competent. I clearly must have conveyed a different message during the interview, and so I would like to make a sincere public apology for any misunderstanding. I did, indeed, offer some blunt critical feedback for my FWS instructor (along with some very positive feedback), but I feel uncomfortable ever saying that an instructor is “not competent,” particularly as this offers little in the way of specificity or helpful criticism.

Sarah Kennedy ’10