A restriction on faculty hiring at the Ohio State College of Medicine and Public Health may soon be removed.
For months, the Office of Academic Affairs, University Senate, Faculty Council and other groups have been discussing the benefits of lifting the cap, which restricts the amount of non-tenured faculty included within that college.
“This proposal represents a fundamental change in the composition of our faculty, and consequently it is an issue with many facets,” said Stan Ahalt, chairman of the senate steering committee.
The cap on faculty helps control the number of non-tenured faculty working for the university. A higher ratio of tenured faculty to non-tenured faculty exists within the College of Medicine and Public Health.
The issue and potential change in the employment system have been evaluated by various committees for months.
“The University Senate steering committee and faculty council have voted to support the revised proposal,” said Marilyn Blackwell, a professor of germanic languages and literature.
“I am pleased that this is moving forward. Both the faculty council and the council of chairs at the medical center have unanimously approved this action,” said Fred Sanfilippo, senior vice president for health sciences and dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health.
“Over the past few months we’ve worked closely with the steering committee of the senate to address their questions and have responded to comments from the University Faculty Council.”
Some supporters of the cap lift say the restriction adversely affects the hiring of new faculty who do not pursue extensive research careers.
“The University Senate steering committee has worked closely within the college to forge certain compromises and has been a very positive experience,” Blackwell said.
Recruitment is harmed because individuals interested in teaching are hired into auxiliary positions because of the lack of regular-track positions. From these auxiliary positions, students are less able to devote time and energy to teaching.
Three other proposals have been discussed in the committees.
One calls for OSU to maintain the 40-percent faculty cap but apply this college-wide, which would open about 100 more faculty positions on the regular clinical track.
Another proposal is to increase the departmental or college-wide cap. Little support exists for this because the increase is based on only arbitrary numbers.
Eliminating the faculty cap entirely, which would provide flexibility but would not directly deal with the ratio of tenured faculty to non-tenured faculty members, has also been proposed.
“This action is critical to the continued success of the medical center, which in turn impacts the success of the entire university,” Sanfilippo said.
