"Six-and-a-half searches is probably close to our long-term average per year, though we have made a higher number of tenure track hires in recent years," said Dean of the Faculty Gregory Call. "We have now essentially reached the [full-time equivalency] (FTE) cap of 165 tenured and tenure-track faculty set by the Amherst board of trustees.
Despite complaints from some departments about the lack of FTEs, Call does not expect that the College will approve significantly more than six new positions in the spring. "Though we hope the board will raise the cap in the near future, the cap will likely limit the number of new tenure-track positions we can approve this spring," he said.
President Anthony Marx said that faculty size is one of many issues he hopes to discuss with the community.
"I have discussed with College and with the board the possibility in the future of increasing the size of the faculty by some number," Marx said. "But I think that everyone agrees that before we can get to that that conversation, we need to have an extended conversation about what it is exactly that we think needs growing at Amherst, whether it is particularly departments or programs or aspects of the curriculum."
Call said that the process of seeking approval to hire a new professor is a lengthy one. "The process is long and detailed, but it benefits from the considered judgments of many people-the applying departments, the [Committee of Educational Policy], the President and the Dean [of the Faculty.]"
Departments seeking new faculty began the process last spring with applications to the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) explaining the reasoning behind their searches.
The three students and five faculty members on the CEP prioritize department applications and make recommendations to the dean of faculty, who ultimately decides which requests to grant after consultation with the President.
The economics department is currently looking to fill vacancies for a tenure-track assistant professor position and an open-rank position in the field of macroeconomics and industrial organization.
According to Chair of the Economics Department Steven Rivkin, the lack of FTEs could hurt the quality of the department. This year, seven professors, two of whom are visiting, make up the economics department, which on paper offers 28 courses and is one of the most popular majors at Amherst. "We are understaffed this year, which means less time to do research, which in the long run could hurt our reputation," said Rivkin. "It also means less time to work with students on their theses. If you look at economics departments at the other colleges in the area, you'll see we're the smallest [professor-wise]."
However, Rivkin noted that the lack of professors in the economics department this semester is not entirely because FTE positions were not approved, but also because the department could not fill the positions as quickly as professors left. "It's a question of finding a match. The worst thing is not staying without new professors; the worst is hiring someone who wouldn't fit the department."
Departments have already begun to publish ads for the positions they seek to fill and plan to take applications this semester, interview candidates next semester and have new professors begin teaching in September 2004.
The only department approved to create a new position rather than fill a vacancy is the department of anthropology and sociology, which has been approved to hire a tenure-tract assistant professor with a research specialty in medical anthropology.
The history and black studies departments are jointly seeking a historian with expertise in African-American history for a tenure-track appointment to replace David Blight, who recently left Amherst to join the faculty of Yale University.
"Both the departments are committed to finding someone who can continue to provide our students with courses on the African-American experience," said Chair of the History Department Sean Redding.
The department of law, jurisprudence and social thought is seeking a half-time professor to replace co-founder of the department Thomas Kearns, who plans to retire at the end of the year.
"[Kearns] has been since the beginning of LJST … the person who did legal theory," according to Department Chair Austin Sarat.
The religion department is seeking a professor with specialization in modern religious thought to replace Alec Irwin, who has taken a position at Harvard Medical School.
The fine arts department is seeking to make an appointment at the associate or full professor level.
The department of anthropology is conducting a search for a tenure-track assistant professor with a specialty in medical anthropology.