I see that the Opening Convocation is this afternoon at 4. I've attached the program. I also see 20 new faculty members and 11 newly Tenured faculty. I have zero idea whether or not these numbers are high, low or indifferent for a school of Valpo's size.
The list of new faculty members does not distinguish between tenure track and non-tenure track. If they were all tenure-track, that would be very surprising - but my guess is that over half are non-tenure track (common for most private universities today)...which does not seem unusual.
In regards to tenure, the promotions to full professor seem reasonable (they already had tenure). In regards to being granted tenure, a tenure-track faculty member must gain tenure (through processes the University and specific to standards of his or her College) within a set period - otherwise they are dismissed. The period typically requires going for tenure at the beginning of the 7th year, though most universities granted all tenure-track faculty an additional year for COVID and grant an additional year for having a child. Thus, it was probably time for those 11 people and, if they meet the requirements, should get tenure. That said, it is a bit surprising to be granting tenure to people in disciplines with minimal demand - but it would be hard to deny tenure solely for that reason.
@vu84v2 Ultimately if electives or classes are still offered in low demand departments, one would like to have said professors be of a higher quality. Hence tenured staff. At least that is my thinking
Rez - I generally agree. However, a low demand department's ratio of tenured faculty members to seats filled in its classes should NEVER exceed the ratio for higher demand departments.
VUIndiana - Just to be clear, I am very 'phased' about hiring 70 new full-time staff (which, from your comments, I assume are people who do not teach). That should be scrutinized (I suggest this is a valid activity for a Faculty Senate ad hoc committee).
Please note that the ratio I suggested gives credit for full classes because they are GenEd or popular. I have just seen cases where a department in a professional College finds a "like" liberal arts department (in which "like" is based on total number of seats filled and total number of classes offered) and the liberal arts department has three times the number of tenured or tenure-track faculty than the department from the professional College. In those cases, that liberal arts department should not be allowed to replace a tenure/tenure track faculty member who leaves with another tenure track faculty member. This does not mean that those faculty members from liberal arts who received tenure should not have been granted tenure (it is very likely that they truly deserved it), it just means a university needs to be strategic and judicious when hiring tenure track faculty.
Just to clarify: Those are 70 new employees not 70 new positions that have been hired some point in the last year, not since last summer. What percentage of those positions have always existed? Has there been a lot of staff turnover? I know I heard that in some areas (primarily athletics) our salaries are so low that Valpo is a "first out of college" or Stepping stone job for a lot of people which means lots of turn over in certain positions. I may be being testy as I know people who both teach but also work as staff at the university and I don't know that turning every position into "administrative bloat" is good either.
So bets are open.
Who delivers the 2025 Opening Convocation?
@realist77 Ah, good point. Technically, IMO, the opening convo should be Padilla’s swan song. Can’t argue that. The next biggie is the December graduation, right? And that’s well past his retirement date. By then, The New Guy/Gal (TNG) has to be firmly in place and a presence not only on campus but within the extended Valpo national community.
Yes, the swan song would normally be an easy answer. And yet the morale seems crushed across the breadth of VU. It's just another magnet to attach bad news to the first story of the VU year in the context of an event that has the single purpose of inspiring He is neither a pastor or a rhetorician like Heckler was. He us an attorney by trade and apparently by demeanor when under stress.
I suspect there is/was a search for celeb alumni of some sort in the wings, Someone who can "wake up the echoes" a bit. But I have no basis for that idea. Someone in the bowels of the chapel tyoing the program knows already. It's 2 weeks out.
Odds.
2:1 Padilla
8:1 Popular current professo
10:1 popular former one
20:1 Alumni guest speaker
I would go woth the last one.
VULB62 - It is virtually impossible that the new university president will be in place in December. They are just receiving resume's and reviewing them now, and then will need to move to video interviews with maybe 10 candidates and then on-campus interviews with the top three candidates. If they find a good candidate (a bigger if than you might realize) they need to negotiate and then he/she needs to deal with their exiting employer. Best case to start is January 1st, but as I have said in other posts it could end up being July 1st.
This is why they need to appoint an interim president NOW! The provost, board member, or a very strong Dean would be possibilities. Padilla has performed poorly and should not be involved in any major decisions. Given the realistic timeframe for a new president and Padilla's poor performance, you need someone in the position now who will be a part of Valpo's strategy.
The next biggie is the December graduation, right?
There is no longer a December graduation ceremony. Those graduates walk in May.
So is Padilla’s last shot at a swan song going to be another drinks & cigars night at Homecoming? When is Homecoming this year?
