Hundreds of New Faculty Join Universities

Over the next year, 400 new faculty will be hired across the University of Texas System 's academic campuses. That means the best and brightest teaching and research minds from across the state and nation are now joining the ranks at a UT System school. They have specific missions. One is developing new vaccines to protect against infectious disease. Another creates the materials that run technology. Yet another is working to reduce the pain our bodies endure from allergies to arthritis to cancer.

Dr. Wendy Hodges, a biologist, leaves the University of California System to join the UTPB team. Odessa has the perfect climate for her work with the horned lizard, commonly known as the horny toad.

"UT System enrollment is growing by about 5% per year," said Teresa Sullivan, UT System vice chancellor of academic affairs. New faculty hires will help improve student to faculty ratios to keep up with the rapid growth.

Now that the Texas Legislature has granted state university systems the ability to set their own tuition based on campus needs, UT System schools are able to recruit skilled faculty by using revenues from increased tuition.

At the University of Texas at San Antonio, this tuition flexibility translated into 75 additional faculty this year. All of the revenue from tuition increases has gone into new faculty hires and student financial aid. UTSA hired a number of top-notch scientists to keep up with the 2,000 biology majors at the university. Dr. Thomas Forsthuber studies the immune system and autoimmune diseases, and helps develop vaccines against infectious diseases. "Why did I choose UTSA? The potential," stated Forsthuber, currently a professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. He will start work at UTSA in June of 2005 as a professor of biology. "There is already a talented group assembled at UTSA. As UTSA continues to recruit more good people the university will really take off. We will have many new collaborations in an environment where can team up with each other. It's really exciting."

Recruiting top professors, who are also top researchers, is like bringing a small business to campus. Top researchers often bring millions of dollars in federal grant money with them to further their research studies.

Dr. Robert Gatchel fits that profile. He is the new chairman and a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. He got his start teaching at UTA and now, a few decades later, was recruited back. "You want to go to a place where you are not the only person who is doing research," Dr. Gatchel said. "But you are among a community of fellow academians who share your interest, commitment and passion for learning." This expert in chronic pain management research brings with him $3 million worth of grants which enables him to employ 8 students who assist in his research on pain and health psychology.

"What the UT System is doing is making it more attractive for clinical researchers like me to change from one flagship to another and continue the caliber of work you're already doing," Dr. Gatchel said. "UTA has made several very high profile hires recently and that demonstrated to me that this university is serious about bringing up its status as a top tier academic institution."

The University of Texas at Dallas was able to recruit not just one engineering researcher but a whole team. The three men were on staff at another north Texas university when they chose to move to UTD. Through federal grant money, the three professors brought roughly 20 people with them to advance their material science studies.

"It's pretty unique for us to have all been able to move together to UTD," said lead researcher Dr. Bruce Gnade. In total, Dr. Gnade, Dr. Robert Wallace and Dr. Moon Kim brought three technical staff, one administrative assistant, a dozen students and two post-doctoral students to UTD. "Every school has potential and wants to get better, but they are usually so limited by resources. It is so fortunate that UTD not only has the potential, but also many of the resources it needs to realize its potential."

The range of professors and their skills are as unique as the research projects they bring with them. Take Dr. Wendy Hodges for example. She grew up on a farm in eastern Kansas and developed a strong sense of environment and love for nature. Now she has joined the team of biologists at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa as an assistant professor in biology. She leaves the University of California System to join the UTPB team. She is moving to the perfect climate to further develop her research of reintroducing the horned lizard, commonly known as the horny toad, to its original habitats. The job opportunity also opens doors for Dr. Hodges to pursue conservation efforts for other species native to Texas. But her interest in UT Permian Basin extends far beyond its semi desert, dry climate. "Being a part of the whole UT System provides a lot of available resources I feel I can take advantage of," Dr. Hodges said. "I will have access to equipment, libraries and research available throughout the System. There is an interest as a whole to bring researchers and campuses together at UT."

Other System universities have also expanded their teaching staff as a result of tuition flexibility. The University of Texas at Austin is hiring 30 additional faculty members. UT El Paso will have 53 new faculty on staff this fall. UT Pan American is using its tuition increase to offset the costs of hiring 70 new faculty this fall. UT Brownsville is hiring 23 new faculty members and 11 new academic advisors. And, UT Tyler will add 15 new faculty members.

UT System leaders recognize hiring the best and brightest is an ongoing and very competitive process. To help its institutions hire the best in their fields, the System led an August conference in Arlington on best practices in faculty hiring.

"In fairness to our students, we need to recruit more faculty to meet the needs of our institutions for additional classes and more course sections. We hope this conference fostered an opportunity to share new ideas in attracting the very best faculty in the country to the System and to Texas. We have a lot to offer new faculty and their families and this is an exciting time of growth and opportunity in higher education that is virtually unduplicated elsewhere," Dr. Sullivan said.