Faculty Hiring Program Under Way

NC State will begin seeking out more than three dozen new faculty members in targeted areas as the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence program moves forward this spring.

Seventeen proposals in areas ranging from bioinformatics to translational regenerative medicine will be funded as part of a $5 million investment in partnership with all 10 colleges.

Two to four faculty will be hired in a dozen cluster areas as part of the university’s efforts to attract leading scholars in areas of emerging strength. The faculty excellence program helps NC State pursue one of the top priorities in its strategic plan: hiring tenured and tenure-track faculty.

“This is a great process, that will, I think, bring a lot of strength to the normal discipline-based hiring processes you see in your departments,” Chancellor Randy Woodson told Faculty Senate members on Tuesday.

Building Momentum

Provost Warwick Arden began reviewing hiring guidelines this week with search chairs and lead deans for each cluster. He said he expected new faculty to begin arriving next spring, although one or two might be on campus in time for the fall semester.

Current faculty submitted more than 70 proposals, some of which were combined during the review process. Funding decisions were based on potential to achieve national prominence and promote collaboration.

“We have a tremendous depth of interdisciplinary activity going on,” said Arden, who described the submissions as “pretty amazing.”

Woodson, who read portions of every proposal, said he wants to find ways to build on the process.

“We have opportunities in key areas of science, and we’ve created a lot of excitement about them,” he said. “I want to build on that energy and enthusiasm.”