More tenure-track faculty at PSU

Portland State’s student population has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, and the increased enrollment and dollars means that many departments will be able to hire more tenure-track professors.

Next fall, 12 to 15 new tenure-track faculty members will be working at PSU, according to Marvin Kaiser, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Most of the major departments on campus have submitted proposals to be part of the “conversion process”—the university’s transition from holding a large number of adjunct and fixed-term faculty members to attracting more tenure track professors.

According to Kaiser, some of the departments that will be hiring new professors are math, psychology, communications, English and biology. The School of Social Work will also receive more tenure professors.

“We have more proposals than we have money,” he said.

Roy Koch, provost and vice president of academic affairs, emphasized that the conversion process won’t oust any current faculty members.

“This is a re-allocation of funds, not a transfer of people. We’re not replacing anyone…it is not our intention to put anybody out of a job,” he said, despite rumors among current faculty members that their positions may be at stake.

The funds to hire the new tenure track faculty will come from the Dean’s Office, the various departments submitting proposals and from the revenue generated by student population growth.

Last year, 360 of PSU’s 671 faculty—professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors—were tenure track. This 53 percent ratio reflects the norm across the Oregon University System. The smaller universities hold a higher percentage of tenure-track faculty. For instance, around 60 percent of faculty members at Western Oregon University and Southern Oregon University are tenure track.

At universities in the “Urban 13,” the other public schools across the nation that share research and are similar in size and location to PSU, the tenure ratio is in accordance with the prestige of the university. Georgia State, which admits 41 percent of student applicants, hires almost exclusively tenure-track faculty.

Dr. Jennifer Ruth, chair of the English department, is excited about the changes that her faculty will see next fall and hopes that the hiring of tenure-track faculty will help the university in general.

“I’m a firm believer that that the more tenure positions we have, the better and healthier the university,” she said.

She is also glad that the changes happening at PSU won’t mean that current faculty members are replaced.

“I’m glad that we were able to put together a proposal that didn’t create morale issues in the department,” she said.

According to Ruth, when English department faculty members retired in the past, new faculty members weren’t hired to replace them. She said that this happens across almost all of the departments at PSU. 

Ruth said that this reflects a maintenance problem, not a growth problem.

Additionally, the number of tenure-track faculty has stayed the same or decreased while student population has boomed.

The conversion process, Ruth said, “is part of what we need to do as we grow.”

Some departments have already received approval to begin the process of hiring new faculty. The math department, for example, has listed openings on its website for two statistics positions and a distinguished chair position.

“The interview process will be thorough,” said Lisa Kroger, math department administrator.

Kaiser said he is excited to review applications.

“We want people who are doing external research, and we are also committed to diversity,” he said.

Kaiser hopes that the new positions will reflect the growth of the student body and help to maintain enrollment at its current level.?