Out of UTM’s 41 new faculty members, 27 have earned their doctorate.

“Out of the 41 faculty members hired, only 9 or 10 were for new positions,” said Dr. Tom Rakes, UTM Provost.

The English department had the most new faculty with four new assistant professors and one new lecturer. However, the new faculty members are to fill positions that were left vacant last year.

“There are not exactly more teachers, because we had full-time faculty who left to other schools and temporary faculty who went back to school or took full-time positions,” said Dr. Lynn Alexander, Co-Dean of College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

When a faculty member retires, a temporary faculty member is hired to fill the position for one or two years until the department can search for a person to fill the position permanently.

“Because we live in a small rural community, not many people are qualified to teach English at a college level,” said Alexander.

The Biology department was next with four new faculty members, 3 assistant professors and one instructor. The Mathematics department has one new assistant professor and two new lecturers.

“A new category of faculty we have this year is lecturer. A lecturer is on a non-tenure track and is hired on a yearly basis,” said Rakes.

Faculty titles are based on education and experience. A lecturer is a faculty staff that has not started doctorial work. A lecturer is on a non-tenure track and is a year by year appointment. An instructor is a three year appointment. An instructor has the doctorial coursework completed, but has not completed their dissertation.

Assistant professor, associate professor, and professor are promotions based on years of service at UTM and other appropriate criteria. Faculty holding these positions can be tenured.

Rakes also said that new faculty positions were created to accommodate the seven consecutive freshmen enrollments at UTM. More faculty positions are needed to keep up with the classes that are offered.

The new faculty members can be found listed at the UTM Office of Academic Affairs website.

UTM welcomes all new faculty members to the campus and hopes that they will enjoy their time here teaching our students. Have a great first year.