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Tenure track faculty coming to Capital
Brittany Conway
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News
To the uninformed student, it may look as though nothing has changed since last March; when approximately 14 faculty members' contracts were not renewed.
However, the faculty roster has seen no additional tenure track additions.
Dr. Richard Ashbrook, Interim Dean of the College, has hope for what the next year will hold.
"Primarily, the goal is to strengthen the institution across different areas. Central to this is increasing quality faculty and with that comes a strong commitment to tenure track faculty lines," Ashbrook said.
Along with that goal, the university is launching "a diversity initiative to assure... a more diverse applicant pool" as far as gender, race, culture, and background.
Ashbrook went on to explain that President Dr. Denvy Bowman announced months ago the university was not only committed to replacing faculty, but also to increasing the number of tenure track faculty positions. Overall, the goal is to stay committed to multi-year term faculty members.
This year faculty and cabinet members will be deciding how many new faculty members are needed, and how many could be acquired.
The process is long and arduous, but a necessity to ensure that needs are met.
Dr. Keirsten Moore, School of Management and Leadership Interim Dean, said the entire process should be completed this year so the university may see "new hires for next fall." This is a plan that has been echoed by many other faculty members.
Moore also agreed that the positions that were eliminated last year "were meant only to be temporary," since they were all term faculty or adjuncts with set contracts.
"The changes last year did not really effect [the English Department] directly," Dr. David Summers, English Department Head, Assistant Dean of the School of Humanities, and General Education Director said. "We lost people we expected to lose," those who had one-year bridge contracts.
Summers said he felt more of a loss as Director of General Education. Summers had to increase the number of adjunct faculty teaching general education courses 20 percent for this year.
"We have changed the process by which we are considering new faculty positions," Ashbrook said, "we are encouraging academic departments to think more strategically about the future of the department and majors so that new faculty we recruit compliment the mission of the institution and also the plan of the department, not just for now, but for the next 15 to 20 years."
This change will create secure positions for faculty, stability for students, and a more consistent pace for the university.
The next few semesters may be frustrating for both faculty and students, but the goal of the university is to bring better learning and working environments on campus.
bconway2@capital.edu
However, the faculty roster has seen no additional tenure track additions.
Dr. Richard Ashbrook, Interim Dean of the College, has hope for what the next year will hold.
"Primarily, the goal is to strengthen the institution across different areas. Central to this is increasing quality faculty and with that comes a strong commitment to tenure track faculty lines," Ashbrook said.
Along with that goal, the university is launching "a diversity initiative to assure... a more diverse applicant pool" as far as gender, race, culture, and background.
Ashbrook went on to explain that President Dr. Denvy Bowman announced months ago the university was not only committed to replacing faculty, but also to increasing the number of tenure track faculty positions. Overall, the goal is to stay committed to multi-year term faculty members.
This year faculty and cabinet members will be deciding how many new faculty members are needed, and how many could be acquired.
The process is long and arduous, but a necessity to ensure that needs are met.
Dr. Keirsten Moore, School of Management and Leadership Interim Dean, said the entire process should be completed this year so the university may see "new hires for next fall." This is a plan that has been echoed by many other faculty members.
Moore also agreed that the positions that were eliminated last year "were meant only to be temporary," since they were all term faculty or adjuncts with set contracts.
"The changes last year did not really effect [the English Department] directly," Dr. David Summers, English Department Head, Assistant Dean of the School of Humanities, and General Education Director said. "We lost people we expected to lose," those who had one-year bridge contracts.
Summers said he felt more of a loss as Director of General Education. Summers had to increase the number of adjunct faculty teaching general education courses 20 percent for this year.
"We have changed the process by which we are considering new faculty positions," Ashbrook said, "we are encouraging academic departments to think more strategically about the future of the department and majors so that new faculty we recruit compliment the mission of the institution and also the plan of the department, not just for now, but for the next 15 to 20 years."
This change will create secure positions for faculty, stability for students, and a more consistent pace for the university.
The next few semesters may be frustrating for both faculty and students, but the goal of the university is to bring better learning and working environments on campus.
bconway2@capital.edu
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