Process to Review Adequacy of Full-Time Faculty
May 31, 2012
By April 15, the provost directs the college deans to study faculty coverage needs for the next academic year after the spring student registration process is completed. The deans are directed to consider the needs for tenure track, restricted, and adjunct faculty members to maximize efficiency and to meet broader academic goals of the University. This process involves conversations between dean and chair and between provost and dean; the chair’s end-of-year reports also provide opportunity to demonstrate need and adequacy.
By June 1, the deans submit their recommendations for full-time, faculty searches to begin in the fall, and they share with the designated information about expected adjunct usage for the next academic year.
The provost receives end-of-the-year data from IRAR on distribution of students and majors across the colleges and academic departments. The Catalog is published in the May to July timeframe, and this information also guides the provost’s planning.
When the college dean is aware of academic conferences that involve early recruitment opportunities or functions, such as in some business fields, the dean shares this information with the provost, who makes the determination as to whether a search will be authorized to meet this timetable.
During June and July, the provost consults with the Chief of Staff on the number of any new FTEs budgeted for Academic Affairs. In some years, this consultation takes place during the President’s Advance (senior staff retreat). Further refinement may take place during the Provost’s Retreat, when scheduled.
Barring complicating circumstances, the provost communicates decisions for initiating searches to the deans by the start of fall semester classes. The provost also communicates these decisions with the Director of Faculty Recruitment and Equal Opportunity, the Vice Provost and Associate Provost, and the Chief of Staff. The provost determines the rank and type of each position. The rank specified will typically be set at Lecturer or Assistant Professor. However, Lecturer searches may leave the door open for appointment at the Instructor rank, and Assistant Professor searches may allow for the ABD candidate. In certain circumstances the job ad may also allow or specify the offered rank of Associate Professor or Full Professor; the most common factor for offering these higher ranks will be the specified need for faculty who are established in their disciplinary field already to provide greater and more immediate academic and departmental leadership. Faculty appointments that are not the product of formal searches must be made through the “Modified Search Process.”
The provost’s budget officers encumber funds to complete the searches, and convey any concerns about support levels. The provost communicates the allocation-of-position decisions to the faculty at faculty meetings and/or University Faculty Senate meetings.
Assessment of the process results from the ability of the University to adhere to strategic goals. These goals include targets for class size; coverage of new academic programs; the 70-30 ratio of permanent vs. restricted faculty contracts; the 20% adjunct rate (music program aside); the movement towards a 3-3 teaching load for permanent faculty; and the products of academic assessment. Modifications of these goals, as determined by the President or Chief of Staff, will in turn impact prior expectations for the success of the process.