Hannah Robinson
Hwood3@uwyo.edu
One hundred forty non-tenured and tenured track faculty and academic staff positions are open to new hires for the next academic year, according to University of Wyoming staff.
The numbers are not much different than past years, but with the current UW hiring freeze, it puts UW in a tight position, Vice President of Academic Affairs David Jones said.
“The last thing we want to do is put a department in this situation,” Jones said. “If faculty isn’t hired, departments will have to shift around responsibilities and get classes covered.”
This may lead to bigger class sizes and a more distant student-to-faculty ratio.
Board of Trustees Vice President John MacPherson said he knows there are openings for staff and faculty during the current hiring freeze.
“The hiring freeze is because of the financial situation,” MacPherson said. “I know there is a number of openings, that having been said if you don’t have the money you can only afford to employ using the resources you have.”
Although there are about 140 positions open and needing to be filled by fall, there are not as many without a person working it, Jones said.
“Technically these positions are open next fall,” Jones said. “People are retiring and resigning and leaving for various reasons, there’s not 140 positions where some is not there right now.”
On average there is about 25 to 30 faculty on tenure that leave each year. Jones said he does not think this year is anything out of the ordinary.
On Oct. 9 UW President Dick McGinity sent a memorandum addressing the beginning of the hiring freeze at UW. While exceptions may occur, the process is lengthy, going through Jones and then McGinity, according to the memo.
Jones said the students are of concern in this situation.
“We don’t want to get into a position where the students get the short end here,” Jones said.
Jones said he does not know when the hiring freeze will be lifted. However, with the students currently here, it has to be certain that essential positions are being filled.
“It is a tight situation, and we are managing it the best we can so the students aren’t negatively affected,” Jones said.
