Tuition increase leads to new hirings

A recent tuition increase has allowed Buffalo State to begin hiring faculty again. Last year, the college allowed certain faculty positions to remain vacant in an attempt to save money.

The increase, proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in June, will provide the college with just under $2 million in net revenue annually by gradually raising tuition rates by 30 percent over the next five years.

Although the college is still making less money than it was last year, the increase gives administrators more financial leeway than they would have had under the previous cuts. It was decided to open up hiring again.

"The first priority is positions in academic affairs, faculty positions specifically," said Stanley Kardonsky, vice president of finance and management.

The college plans to fill 16 vacant positions for the fall 2012 semester.

Prior tuition hikes were accompanied by budget cuts, so students paid more while colleges across the state still struggled to make ends meet.

"Students were paying a larger portion of the budget, but the budget wasn't going up," Kardonsky said.

The latest tuition increase includes language to prevent the state from further cutting its support.

All of the new faculty will be hired as full-time assistant professors on track to earn tenure.

"It was decided to fill these positions based on the fact that we went this fall without hiring any faculty," said Dennis Ponton, vice president of academic affairs.

After deciding on the number of new positions that would be added, the deans of Buffalo State's six schools met to discuss their priorities, Ponton said.

The School of Natural and Social Sciences had lost several positions due to retirement in the last couple years.

"We have done what we can to deal with fewer full-time faculty," said Mark Severson, dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences.

The losses led the school to eliminate some course sections, and increased the percentage of courses taught by part-time faculty members. The new positions will help increase the ratio of full-time to part-time faculty in the School of Natural and Social Sciences, Severson said.

"We're looking at getting the proportion of credits administered by full-time faculty back up," he said.

The college's strategic plan has long called for an increased ratio of full-time faculty to adjuncts, but years of budget cuts have made this unfeasible, Ponton said. The college has yet to regain all of the positions lost in the last two years.

In the 2010-2011 school year the college had a total of 824 faculty members, 425 full-time and 399 part-time, according to information from the college's Office of Institutional Research.

Official numbers for the 2011-12 school year have not yet been compiled.

The eventual goal, Ponton said, is to have 65 percent of the faculty work full-time, as opposed to the current rate of about 52 percent.

"We're not there yet," he said.

While part-time faculty plays an important role, Ponton said, it is the full-time professors who are involved in advisement, research, community outreach and the welfare of the college. Full-time faculty can serve on the College Senate and council, as well as the many other committees that drive curriculum and policy.

The searches will continue throughout this year, and any new faculty found will begin teaching in 2012.

Jacob Tierney can be reached by email at Tierney.record@live.com.