{"id":82506,"date":"2013-08-23T09:45:06","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T13:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=82506"},"modified":"2015-12-14T10:43:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T15:43:19","slug":"uconn-welcoming-165-new-faculty-members-at-start-of-fall-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/08\/uconn-welcoming-165-new-faculty-members-at-start-of-fall-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Welcoming 165 New Faculty Members at Start of Fall Semester"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Provost<\/a>
Provost Mun Choi, standing, greets, Rachel Burns, right, assistant clinical professor of pathobiology, and Deborah Shelton, professor of nursing, at the new faculty orientation session held at Rome Ballroom. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the largest incoming groups of new faculty members in recent memory is joining UConn this month, as the University works to solidify its academic core, strengthen research and teaching in key fields, and reduce class sizes.<\/p>\n

The University is holding a full-day orientation program today for 165 new faculty members, familiarizing them with UConn\u2019s academic and research mission while helping them navigate the nuts and bolts of joining its workforce.<\/p>\n

The large contingent of new faculty members is tangible evidence of the success of the University\u2019s four-year hiring initiative<\/a>, which has been described as<\/a> one of the most ambitious plans of its type in U.S. higher education \u2013 especially in such tight economic times.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about quality, not just quantity: UConn has recruited professors from several of the nation\u2019s top institutions, including some who gave up tenure at their previous universities because they wanted to be part of UConn\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I set foot on the UConn campus, I felt there was tremendous energy here,\u201d says Paul Herrnson<\/a>, a nationally known political scientist who came from the University of Maryland to UConn, where he is a political science professor and director of UConn\u2019s Roper Center for Public Opinion Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University is experiencing major growth, and as someone who\u2019s spent a lot of his career in institution-building, I\u2019m excited to be\u00a0part of that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Jeremy<\/a>
Jeremy Teitelbaum, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, center, speaks with Song Han, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, at the new faculty orientation session on Aug. 23. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seeking to strategically expand its faculty in key research and teaching areas and boost the number of classes offered, UConn is aiming to recruit 290 new tenure-track faculty members under the hiring program<\/a>, in addition to normal hiring to fill vacancies as needed.<\/p>\n

The faculty hiring plan has attracted new professors and researchers from University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Rutgers, Princeton, Temple, Michigan State, and many other top-tier public and private institutions.<\/p>\n

Some of the new faculty members say the hiring plan and the ambitious, optimistic sentiment behind it made UConn an attractive choice. Several also mentioned being impressed by the commitment to excellence in research, service-learning<\/a>, and diversity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University is expanding dramatically, and the atmosphere around campus and within my new department makes me very optimistic about the future. That was a meaningful factor in my decision,\u201d says Chad Cotti<\/a>, who joined UConn\u2019s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics<\/a> from the University of Wisconsin, and whose research into the decision-making and personal economics of risky behaviors has been cited in The New York Times<\/em> and other publications.<\/p>\n

Cotti and others also said they were impressed by UConn\u2019s commitment to providing resources and support for research, specialized centers for important disciplines, and other investments.<\/p>\n

Several also said they were struck by the collegial attitude of the UConn faculty and administrators they met, and the quality of life that Connecticut offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I visited Storrs, the area struck me as very family-friendly, with good schools and a friendly culture, all of which were positives when considering the opportunity,\u201d Cotti said.<\/p>\n

Molly Land, who is joining the School of Law<\/a>, says she took notice of UConn\u2019s recruitment of what she called \u201can amazing and diverse faculty who work in the area of human rights,\u201d along with the establishment and support of its Human Rights Institute<\/a> and the Dodd Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few universities that have made human rights as much of a priority as UConn has,\u201d says Land, who comes to UConn from New York Law School. \u201cI also appreciated the school\u2019s commitment to innovative teaching, as well as the rigorous scholarly environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human rights law and policy, the area of Land\u2019s expertise, is one of several targeted areas<\/a> in which UConn is building its strength through the faculty hiring initiative. Others include genomics and its associated disciplines; environment and sustainability; insurance risk and health policy; digital media; and several others.<\/p>\n

\"Deborah<\/a>
Deborah Shelton, left, professor of nursing, and Sahar Al Seesi, postdoctoral fellow in computer science and engineering, speak at at the new faculty orientation session. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many of the incoming faculty members earned their Ph.D. credentials at Ivy League schools and other top-tier public and private universities. Their expertise runs the gamut from additive manufacturing to Chinese language, school reform policy, public health, global climate change, family policy, marine sciences, neuroscience, and a host of other specialties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith new faculty come new ideas for research and innovation, and opportunities for collaboration,\u201d says Sally M. Reis, UConn vice provost for academic affairs. \u201cWith these outstanding new faculty members, we are poised to become an even greater University in the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of the faculty hiring initiative is being funded through a four-year tuition increase plan passed by the University\u2019s Board of Trustees in December 2011 to significantly boost research capability, increase course offerings, and reduce class sizes for students.<\/p>\n

All the net dollars generated from the increases are going toward the faculty hiring, which will also be supplemented through other University funds and spending reductions elsewhere on campus.<\/p>\n

Although UConn has welcomed other new large \u201cclasses\u201d of incoming faculty members in the past 15 years, none has been as large as this year\u2019s group of 165 people. Even in strong economic years, the University generally brought in between 50 and 60 new professors each fall.<\/p>\n

The orientation for the new faculty members began with a welcome from President Susan Herbst, Provost Mun Choi, and Vice Provost Reis.<\/p>\n

The professors also learned about various services and training programs at the University; research and compliance guidelines; procedures for promotion, tenure, and reappointment; and other logistical and policy information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An ambitious faculty hiring plan is drawing experts in a variety of critical academic fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":82642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[124],"class_list":["post-82506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-06 14:30:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82506"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107128,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82506\/revisions\/107128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/82642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82506"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=82506"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=82506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}