Contact: Cile Spelce, (512) 499-4363

Date: August 10, 2004

UT System Campuses Prepare to Hire More Than 400 New Faculty

ARLINGTON – University of Texas campuses will be hiring more than 400 new faculty over the next year across its nine universities. To bring the best and brightest minds to UT's campuses, the University of Texas System hosted a conference on Aug. 10 for all UT institutions to emphasize best practices in recruiting and retention of exceptional staff. The conference was held at the University of Texas at Arlington.

"Enrollment in University of Texas System schools is growing by roughly five percent each year," according to Dr. Teresa Sullivan, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs for the UT System. "At this rate, the System will double its number of students by 2018. To maintain and increase the quality of education students receive, a sustained effort must be put in place to recruit additional, highly qualified faculty every year. That is why it is important for us to host conference like this one to share 'best practices' among our institutions," she said. Conference participants discussed community involvement in the hiring process, developing effective search committees and recruiting a diverse faculty, among other key issues.

UT System schools share an advantage nationally in recruiting and hiring of new faculty. In 2003, the Texas Legislature voted to transfer tuition-setting authority from state lawmakers to individual universities and systems in the state. Revenue from new tuition flexibility will provide the necessary support for salaries and faculty start-up packages for new faculty at UT System institutions.

"While many institutions throughout the country are retrenching, we have an unusual opportunity to hire new faculty to meet our growing student populations," Sullivan said. "In the process we can also increase competitiveness of our institutions for more federal research dollars and the added economic benefit to campuses and communities that come from those new research dollars."

UT System's recruitment effort was stimulated by two System initiatives: the Washington Advisory Group Report, which recommended making faculty hiring a top priority. Secondly, the conference in Arlington is part of an ongoing effort to encourage more cooperation and collaboration among UT's universities, including the search for new faculty.

A third stimulus is the dramatic growth of the System's campuses. "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 will be 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," Sullivan said.

The University of Texas System has 15 campuses, including nine academic and six health institutions, an enrollment exceeding 177,000 students, more than 87,000 employees, and an annual operating budget of $7.8 billion. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually.