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NEWS
| february 17, 2004
Faculty/Staff
Funds to bring more faculty
Kent Gardner says the addition
of 50 new and 12 replacement hires will create smaller class sections
and lower the student/facutly ratio.
By Kate
Bolen
The Shorthorn Staff
By the end of the summer, the university will have 50 new and 12
replacement faculty members.
Spring tuition raises allotted enough funds to hire new faculty
members for Fall 2004 to help balance the student/faculty ratio
in the university, which has experienced an increase in student
enrollment.
Kent Gardner, vice president of student affairs, said some faculty
members have been teaching larger sections, and that often causes
less interaction between students and faculty.
The addition of the faculty members will allow for smaller sections
as well as new courses due to faculty members with special expertise
coming in, Dr. Gardner said.
“We have the need for more, but this is a great start to get
the faculty/student ratio in a good position.”
Officials say the student-faculty ratio for Fall 2003 was 1:22.
The ratio was the same for Fall 2002 when enrollment grew by 4.9
percent, capping five years of increases.
In addition, replacement hires filled current positions which were
left open due to faculty members leaving, said John Hall, vice president
for finance and administration.
Heads of university departments are seeking to balance their classrooms
through faculty searches.
Jeanne Gerlach, College of Education dean, said she is enthusiastic
about the seven faculty members her college is set to receive.
“We are very excited that during this time of economic downturn
that we have that many,” Dr. Gerlach said. “This will
give us more sections and allows us to continue the quality of our
classes.
Neal Smatresk, College of Science dean, said he is content with
the nine faculty members the college was given. Dr. Smatresk said
out of the nine, three are chairs.
“One of the chairs has already been hired and the search for
the other two is on-going,” he said.
Smatresk said replacement hires will include biochemistry, geology
and two biology faculty members.
Two new positions being filled are an analytical chemist and a Welch-Endowed
chair, he said.
The School of Architecture also has a new position open, Donald
Gatzke, the school’s dean, said.
“At the moment, we are searching for an assistant professor
in landscape architecture,” he said. “This is what we
expected.”
However, not all of the university’s schools and colleges
will receive new positions and only need to fill those that were
left open due to resignations or retirements.
Santos Hernandez, School of Social Work dean, said the school will
receive one replacement.
“We are currently searching for a replacement faculty member
brought about by retirement,” Dr. Hernandez said.
The School of Urban and Public Affairs is in the process of hiring
two replacement faculty members, Dean Richard Cole said.
Dr. Cole said he and the department are grateful for the opportunity
to fill these two positions but plan to seek more faculty members.
“We will continue to request of the administration that they
approve more faculty hires for us,” Cole said.
Beth Wright, College of Liberal Arts interim dean, said the search
needs to continue due to increasing enrollment and the expansion
of programs, including graduate degrees in both communication and
modern languages.
Still, Dr. Wright said she believes the upcoming school year will
be an excellent one.
“There have already been two authorizations and some other
people have been extended offers,” Dr. Wright said. “We
are coming into the stretch now.”
In regard to the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty each
school will receive, Bill Carroll, College of Engineering dean,
said whether or not each applicant will be hired as tenured depends
on the applicant’s qualifications.
“We are looking at maybe 10 tenure-track and five or six tenured,”
Dr. Carroll said.
The college was allotted 15 faculty members.
David Gray, College of Business Administration associate dean said
he expects four more tenure-track positions to be filled by fall.
Five have already been hired.
Though the department needs more, the nine new positions are significant.
“I don’t think we have ever hired this many in a year,”
Gray said.
Elizabeth Poster, School of Nursing Dean, said she is looking to
hire three faculty members.
Dr. Poster said she expects to fill the positions during the summer
with two applicants interviewing in March and April.
Michael Moore, associate vice president of academic affairs, said
the addition of faculty is a step in the right direction and that
the administration will continue “along the same path.”
“This is something we go through every year,” Dr. Moore
said. “We must keep up with the growth of students we have
seen in the past few years.”
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| Beth
Wright, College of Liberal Arts interim dean,
says due to program expansions, more faculty is needed. |
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