5 questions for …Jim Clements

Photo by Kanji Takeno

Increasing tenure-track faculty ratio is major TU initiative

Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clements says hiring more full-time faculty is critical in serving TU's mission as the University System of Maryland's primary growth institution. 

In what ways is TU boosting its faculty recruitment and retention efforts?

We’ve just hired 61 tenure- track faculty for this fall, an enormous step toward developing resources for success. TU will remain vital and relevant in 2010, 2020 and even 2030, by maintaining a strong foundation, and that depends on who we hire today as well as our current faculty and staff. We’ve been fortunate that the candidate pool has been strong, so we’ve hired incredible people.

Which college had the most hires?

Actually, nearly a third—22 tenure-track hires—were for the College of Liberal Arts. It's a good thing we've broken ground on a new building for them! TU recruited 10 new full-time hires for the Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics. The other colleges each have seven or eight new tenure-track faculty members starting this term.

Among those 61 new hires, how many are minorities? How many are women?

One of our major 2010 objectives is to build a strong, targeted diversity outreach effort, not just in student recruiting but in faculty and staff hiring as well. At this point, many faculty have not declared their race officially in their human resources paperwork, so I am unable to provide an accurate number. We do know that of the 61 hires, more than half—34, to be exact—are women.

Why place an emphasis on increasing tenure-track faculty rather than just bringing on more part-time faculty?

First, let me say that our part-time instructors and lecturers do a phenomenal job. However, it’s important for our students—and for higher education in general—that we cultivate a solid core of full-time faculty, because they’re the ones who do extensive research, develop curricula and typically advise students. We needed to raise the ratio of tenure-track faculty. It is a major initiative of President Caret's and mine. This year we welcomed 2,700 freshmen and 1600 transfer students to campus—more than the total enrollment at some campuses. You can’t put that responsibility on the backs of part-time faculty. Also keep in mind that tenure-track faculty members are not just involved in classroom instruction—there’s research, service and community outreach as well.

Would you like to see faculty members collaborate with the community to a greater extent?

Our faculty has truly stepped above and beyond the call of duty in collaborating with communities, both local and halfway around the world, but we need to remain focused on campus needs as well. These days there are more students in their classrooms, yet they’ve continued doing more research and more community outreach. They have a lot on their plate, and they’re doing a great job.

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