Chancellor details plans, new process for faculty hiring

Chancellor Robert C. Holub today shared plans with the campus about faculty hiring, addressing the need to fill critical faculty positions right away and detailing longer-range plans to partner with the faculty to grow its ranks in both number and quality.

“While current budgetary difficulties will hamper us, we must remain committed to meeting our mission and providing a top-quality education, while remaining focused on our ultimate goals,” Holub said.” To that end, the Provost and I have approved plans to continue 49 faculty searches this fiscal year, thus filling critical needs across the campus.”

The chancellor reaffirmed his commitment to the goals of the Amherst 250 initiative, and to the aim of increasing the size of the tenured and tenure-track faculty. “A strong faculty is critical to our overall institutional success, and even in difficult budget times we must focus our energies on building a better university by supporting our faculty,” he said. “We will create an open, transparent system to use faculty excellence and expertise to add new positions in areas of real strategic, academic and scholarly strength.”

Holub said the current budget downturn, which has led to more than $11 million in mid-year cuts to the campus’ state appropriation, compels the campus to think more seriously and differently about how to increase the size of the faculty. He said the campus does not have the funding to add 50 new faculty members this year, and that the funding for these positions will likely not be in next year’s budget either. In fact, additional cuts to state funding seem likely, he observed.

“This budget downturn gives us the opportunity, however, to develop a long-range strategy that will align the assignment of faculty positions with campus priorities – and focus our energies not only on getting bigger, but getting better at the same time,” Holub noted. “When we emerge from the current economic crisis, our institution must be poised to move forward aggressively and energetically with this strategic direction. Working together as a campus community, we can prepare ourselves for that opportunity.”

The chancellor will ask faculty members, colleges and departments to work together to develop projects or proposals for additional faculty positions. These proposals – envisioned as requesting multiple positions across disciplines in most cases – will be reviewed by the Office of the Provost and by a group of faculty and administrators. These faculty-driven proposals will, in turn, allow the campus to better align facilities and infrastructure plans with the hiring process. Holub also said the campus will look to significantly increase its fundraising and communications support for these areas of excellence at the university.

The criteria for adding these faculty positions will include the following considerations:

1) Proven excellence of the Amherst campus in the given research/teaching area

2) Interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary nature of the project

3) Willingness of departments/schools/colleges to support this direction with their own resources.

4) Established leadership for initiative on campus

5) Ability to attract funding from federal, state and private sources

6) Prospects that the project will establish or confirm UMass Amherst as the leader in the proposed area of scholarship, research or teaching

In the coming weeks, the chancellor will ask the Office of the Provost to send information on this process to the faculty and academic units, and to finalize the process so the campus can be transparent and more strategic in how it approaches the critical task of adding faculty.

“While these are clearly difficult budget times, which require us to adjust our planning processes, it is more important than ever that we keep our focus on building a great institution,” Holub said. “Together, I am confident we will overcome this difficult period, and I fully believe our best days are ahead.”

November 6, 2008.

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