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Geosciences School to double faculty members
By Larry Dechant
The school is able to increase its faculty by six to eight people per year over the next four years, as well as expand and modify its facilities, because of John A. Jackson's $282 million donation to the school in 2002. More than 600 people have applied for the job openings, and two people will be interviewed per week until the process ends, said Dean Eric Barron. "Quite frankly, we want to be the premier program in the country, and by making these changes, we can achieve that," he said. Barron said the endowment will allow the school to add to its predominantly research-based professors and hire faculty specialized in specific fields. "Schools with a bigger program almost always have one person of each discipline required to teach a comprehensive program," Barron said. "Sometimes, they may have two or three, but the intent is to capture the brain power in a particular area. This is a traditional geology program, and I need to hire in order to be able to provide a more comprehensive program." Powers said the University has tried to prioritize improving the student-to-faculty ratio and has added 30 additional positions in the last seven years. "Those additional positions allowed us to devote these positions to hiring minority faculty," he said. "Our goal is not only to reduce the faculty-student ratio, but to diversify the faculty." The student-faculty ratio is higher than UT's contenders, so it is an important goal for the University to remain competitive. Powers said the money from the endowment will be used for the hiring process and will not have an effect on the University's funds. "What the Jackson school is doing is consistent with our goal," Powers said. "Eric Barron has very strategic thinking to further this goal, and fortunately it won't impinge on the University's funding." The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely.
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