New Faculty to Fill Expanding College

As the fall semester winds down, several departments have begun planning for the addition of new faculty next September. The College Faculty Council recently announced that the Spanish, creative writing, geology and biology departments have each been allocated a new tenure-track position.

Last year, the Board of Trustees approved the addition of 10 new positions, which were to be distributed to different departments over the course of three years. The administration proposed the faculty expansion to the Trustees in response to students' complaints that the College simply did not offer enough courses. "For thirty years we have been facing the fact that we don't have enough classes in the curriculum, especially at the elementary level," Associate Dean Bob Geitz said.

The decision on which departments would receive funding for new positions was given over to the College Faculty Council after the Educational Plans and Policies Committee, which is comprised of both faculty and students, reviewed requests from 14 departments. After meeting 17 times over the course of the first half of this semester, the EPPC ranked the requests in order of priority, separating them into four categories.

One of the EPPC's main goals in ranking the requests was to help increase access to classes for first-years and sophomores. The College is planning on instituting a seminar program for underclass students sometime in the next few years, which will allow first-years and sophomores to enroll in small, discussion-oriented classes without having to compete with upperclass students for spots. Geitz said that the administration hopes that the addition of new faculty will help get the seminar program off the ground.

Most of the departments who were allocated the new positions have been looking to expand their faculty for several years. The creative writing department has put in a request for a new position every year since 1998, when the department began an effort to make classes more accessible. "The creative writing program has been trying to open its doors to students by offering more courses on the intro level. We've managed to do a lot since 1998, but we've had to rely on the temporary and adjunct positions to do that," said Martha Collins, chair of the department.

The geology department has been waiting even longer. "We put in our initial request 12 years ago, so we're happy to have finally been funded. This will round out our major nicely," department chair Bruce Simonson said.

Most of the expanding departments will use the opportunity to add new specializations to their curriculum. Geology is looking for professors who specialize in earth geology and the Spanish department is hoping to find someone to teach Latin American film every other year. "This comes at a very appropriate time as we begin to expand the Spanish program," said Nelson de Jesus, chair of the romance language department.

The EPPC is still receiving applications and will make its recommendations to the College Faculty Council about the remaining six positions within the next year.