OT-ish - UConn to hire 275 new faculty

[junglehusky]

UConn To Hire 275 New Faculty Members In Next Four Years

Focus On Genomics, Closing Connecticut's Academic Achievement Gap

Bucking national trends, the University of Connecticut is moving forward with plans to hire 275 new tenure-track faculty members over the next four years, with particular emphasis in the fields of genomics, education, health insurance and finance.

"Our goal is to dramatically expand our faculty ranks in strategic and meaningful ways to ensure we are the university we want to be in the future," said UConn President Susan Herbst.

The university plans to hire 65 faculty members to begin in the fall, with another 90 hired by the fall of 2013.

The university's hiring strategy runs counter to what is happening at many universities and colleges around the country, according to Gwendolyn Bradley, senior program officer for the American Association of University Professors.

"We haven't heard of any other large-scale hiring plans for large public universities or really anywhere," Bradley said. She noted that large public universities have been particularly hard-hit by the recession and tend to be cutting faculty rather than adding.

"We are unique in this regard, and it is very exciting," Herbst said in an e-mail. "The goal is to improve the quality of education by reducing class sizes and enabling professors to spend more time with our students. We also want to increase the number of courses offered so that our students never have to wait to take a course. We want our students graduating on time."

University officials expect the student-to-faculty ratio to decline during the next four years from the current 18-to-1 to 15-to-1. In the late 1990s, the ratio was 14-to-1.

More at the link...

 

[arnie3]

That is really bucking the trend. The University of California System is moving in the opposite direction. This should bode well for the future, making UConn a leader in research. I like Herbst a lot because she is a visionary, and seems to push everyone around her to be better.
Contrast that with what is happening out here on the West Coast, where students can not get the courses needed to graduate, and you have a situation where more and more H.S. seniors are opting out of the UC System. Right now, it is cheaper to send a kid from California to an Oregon state school, ( paying out of state tuition to boot!), than sending a kid to Berkeley or UCLA. High ratings of the school are mattering less these days when it's almost impossible to graduate in four years! Add to the fact that class sizes are getting larger in this system every year, and you have students paying more and getting less from these prestigious schools. It's really a mess out here, and with the state budget in the red, there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.
What UConn is doing for its students' future will pay dividends for the university. I really commend the university for its hiring strategy!

 

[The Funster]

Will UConn have to #begharder to get more faculty?

 

[CTMike]

There was also a few quotes in there on how closely she wants these positions to be tied to research, as well. Conspiracy Kitty has already made the link to the Big Ten and AAU.

 

[Fishy]

My sources tell me that 1/3rd of these hires will be Big Ten graduates, 1/3rd University of Texas graduates and 1/3rd graduates of ACC schools not named FSU or Clemson.

I thought they should have sprinkled 10% ND grads in the mix, but they didn't listen.

 

[observer]

Nice news and a better use of funds than on an unneeded stadium expansion.

 

[The Funster]

My sources tell me that 1/3rd of these hires will be Big Ten graduates, 1/3rd University of Texas graduates and 1/3rd graduates of ACC schools not named FSU or Clemson.

I thought they should have sprinkled 10% ND grads in the mix, but they didn't listen.

They asked ND graduates to teach but they only wanted to teach undergrad courses and maintain their independence by not teaching graduate courses.

 

[zls44]

Everyone is hiking tuition. Good to see a place doing it to actually make the learning experience better for the students.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Everyone is hiking tuition. Good to see a place doing it to actually make the learning experience better for the students.

UConn went through a lot of the pain 20 years ago as they had to adjust to lower levels of state support. The rest of the country is catching up now. California's tuition rates and academic quality was completely unsustainable given where state budgets are going.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Right now, it is cheaper to send a kid from California to an Oregon state school, ( paying out of state tuition to boot!), than sending a kid to Berkeley or UCLA. !

Not so fast my friend...............As best I can tell, Berkeley annual tuition and fees for in-state students is $12, 835
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1090

and University of Oregon out-of-state tuition and fees is $27,653.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=755

If youre a California kid you save nearly $15,000 on tuition by staying home.Even if you look at the total estimated cost of attendance its still cheaper to stay in Berkeley.

 

[Fishy]

Everyone is hiking tuition. Good to see a place doing it to actually make the learning experience better for the students.

duck* the students. I don't care about them.

(Just kidding.)

(No, I'm really not.)

 

[HuskyHawk]

Glad I'm not paying for this. Schools that don't realize a fiscal playing field is on the way are not paying attention. But science hires can be justified, as long as they cut the fluff.

 

[mattp]

Nice news and a better use of funds than on an unneeded stadium expansion.

i don't see what one has to do with the other. if Rutgers hired new staff would it be in lieu of improvements to Yankee Stadium? The Rent belongs to UConn about as much as Yankee Stadium belongs to Rutgers

 

[Nostical]

You're right Matt. This is basically the beginning of a major trend for UConn as it begins to fulfill the Herbst vision of where UConn needs to be in the pantheon of public universities. Start with an upgrade of faculty and an improved learning experience for students, bucking national trends and getting ahead of the curve. The same will occur with our athletics. Herbst does not think status quo. As the song goes, "We're moving on up--to the East Side". Big East? How about East Lansing. Waquoit comment to follow.

 

[Waquoit]

You're right Matt. This is basically the beginning of a major trend for UConn as it begins to fulfill the Herbst vision of where UConn needs to be in the pantheon of public universities. Start with an upgrade of faculty and an improved learning experience for students, bucking national trends and getting ahead of the curve. The same will occur with our athletics. Herbst does not think status quo. As the song goes, "We're moving on up--to the East Side". Big East? How about East Lansing. Waquoit comment to follow.

Maybe I'm coming around, Nos. What UConn could also really use is an upgrade in the support staff like the bursar's office. Lotta losers there.

 

[upstater]

Glad I'm not paying for this. Schools that don't realize a fiscal playing field is on the way are not paying attention. But science hires can be justified, as long as they cut the fluff.

Science hires are crucial and essential--but are a drain on the budget.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Science hires are crucial and essential--but are a drain on the budget.

Yes, at least science hires are the right direction. But every school is about to face reductions in revenue, and they need to start trimming the fat.

"University of California, San Diego, while eliminating master’s programs in electrical and computer engineering and comparative literature, and eliminating courses in French, German, Spanish and English literature, added a diversity requirement for graduation to cultivate 'a student’s understanding of her or his identity.'"​

 

[upstater]

Yes, at least science hires are the right direction. But every school is about to face reductions in revenue, and they need to start trimming the fat.

"University of California, San Diego, while eliminating master’s programs in electrical and computer engineering and comparative literature, and eliminating courses in French, German, Spanish and English literature, added a diversity requirement for graduation to cultivate 'a student’s understanding of her or his identity.'"​

UCSD is one seriously intense school. Spent a week there in the fall. Impressive. When you break down university budgets, research/labs are money losers and Humanities classes are usually profitable. Very low overhead. Depending on what happens in Europe, I think the days of cutting are probably over. If we go into another big recession, we'll see cutting again. But at this point, students are paying more not only in tuition but for their 5th years. Full time faculty is down nationally from 75% to 30% in just one decade.

 

[HuskyHawk]

UCSD is one seriously intense school. Spent a week there in the fall. Impressive. When you break down university budgets, research/labs are money losers and Humanities classes are usually profitable. Very low overhead. Depending on what happens in Europe, I think the days of cutting are probably over. If we go into another big recession, we'll see cutting again. But at this point, students are paying more not only in tuition but for their 5th years. Full time faculty is down nationally from 75% to 30% in just one decade.

The loans are going to dry up. Saw a great proposal the other day to cap federal loan subsidies at each school. Those with lower tuitions and fees would have an advantage. There needs to be an incentive to cut costs and lower tuition.

 

[upstater]

The loans are going to dry up. Saw a great proposal the other day to cap federal loan subsidies at each school. Those with lower tuitions and fees would have an advantage. There needs to be an incentive to cut costs and lower tuition.

Fed loan subs per student haven't risen much. Two decades ago when I was in school, I took out $5k a year. The cap is now $5.6k a year. So, not sure how a cap would help. Clearly, things haven't changed much there. That's not the problem. The problem lies elsewhere. Obviously, schools have cut costs radically. 75% to 30% ft faculty in a decade is huge. While Cal tuition, for instance, has risen 400% in a decade and a half, its costs have gone up much less (from 1.26 billion in expenditures in 1991 to current 1.65 billion). Over an expanse of 20 years, I believe that may even be below inflation, and this is in an era in which high-tech needs and health insurance for workers have skyrocketed. This literally means that the quality of instruction has suffered--which obviously surprises no one.