Progress continues with the Amherst 250 Plan, as the University of Massachusetts looks to significantly bolster its faculty ranks.

The UMass administration is currently conducting searches for 105 new tenure-track faculty members. Of those searches, 27 are ready to make offers to candidates, while candidates for another 45 positions have visits scheduled.

Applicants are still being reviewed for the final 33 positions, according to deputy provost John Cunningham in a press release.

“The 105 searches are spread across the whole University,” said Associate Provost for Faculty Recruitment and Retention Andrew Effrat, “About 50 different departments across the University are searching for new faculty.”

The search committees are composed of primarily faculty members, but also include graduate students. Graduate student Darren Lone Fight is a member of a committee within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts (CHFA). The committee, which consists of Lone Fight and six professors, is responsible for hiring one new faculty member.

“We’re at the end of the process,” Lone Fight said. “We’re not done but we’re nearing the end. We’ve already brought in all of our candidates and we’re at the deliberation stage.”

The new faculty members will fill positions of departing faculty as well as new positions allocated to different areas by the Amherst 250 plan, according to Effrat.

Lone Fight’s committee is conducting an interdisciplinary search, looking at candidates in every department of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

The committee still has some specific goals, however. It is looking for a faculty member to join the Native American Studies certificate program.

“[The CHFA is] mainly hoping to widen the scope of courses offered,” said Lone Fight. The certificate program would require more faculty and course offerings to become a major in the future.

“The [Native American Studies] certificate operates within the five-college system. So if a professor at Smith retires, it affects the UMass program. There’s a gap that needs to be filled, but you hope the candidate will also build the program,” added Lone Fight.

The search committees will be looking for applicants who display

strength in their resumes and submitted statements in the areas of “teaching

ability, research ability, and service.” said Effrat. “The 105 [new faculty members] will be all tenured faculty, not just lecturers.”

Lone Fight also said that he looks for service to the university.

“We are looking for willingness to participate in department programs,” Lone Fight added. “We also look for scholarship and teaching ability.”

The applicants are mostly individuals who have recently completed the highest degree in their field, according to Effrat, and will be filling junior faculty positions.

The Amherst 250 plan, introduced in 2005, will increase the size of the UMass faculty by 250, in order to improve the teaching and research performance of the University.

The general goal of the Amherst 250 plan is “adding on tenured faculty to bring the University back to the strength we once had,” said Effrat.

Caitlin Quinn can be reached at [email protected]