(Jan. 29, 2019) -- UTSA Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy today announced the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative for 2020. The initiative will support and accelerate UTSA’s 10-year vision to become a model for student success, a great public research university, and an exemplar for strategic growth and innovative excellence.
“I am reminded every day of the truly talented and dedicated faculty we have in every discipline across the university,” said Espy. “The faculty is essential in reaching the destinations laid out by President Eighmy and the reason why this initiative has been developed.”
The initiative is composed of five complementary programs:
Clustered and Connected Hiring Program
This program will better align UTSA capabilities with federal, foundation and industry research opportunities and enable collaboration among faculty to address society’s grand challenges. Although UTSA has initiated several cluster hires in recent years to recruit researchers in targeted areas, this new Clustered and Connected Hiring Program calls for engagement of current UTSA faculty members to propose concepts for the concurrent hiring of multiple positions across colleges. The goal is to form transdisciplinary teams of leading or promising scholars to augment existing expertise. Full details on this call for proposals, which are due March 8, 2019, can be found on the Strategic Hiring Initiative website.
Advancing Academic Excellence through Accelerating Faculty Diversity Hiring Program (FDP)
Innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving are greatly enhanced in a diverse and inclusive academic community that supports the participation and success of all its varied members. To advance institutional excellence and student success, the FDP will promote a diverse and inclusive faculty by supporting flexible recruiting and hiring procedures to hire additional faculty who are under-utilized in the academy and reflect the diversity of the student body and communities. A complement to ongoing efforts to increase the diversity of UTSA faculty hired through traditional search processes, this program will utilize the more flexible Special Opportunity Hiring mechanism to enable additional hiring of diverse tenured/tenure-track faculty who will advance academic excellence at UTSA.
Dual Career Academic Partners Hiring Program (DCP)
To aid in faculty recruitment and retention at UTSA, the Dual Career Academic Partners Hiring Program (DCP) will create a more transparent framework to assist highly qualified partners of tenure-stream faculty in identifying and pursuing employment opportunities both at UTSA and in the San Antonio academic community. The DCP is intended to simplify partner hiring for deans and departments chairs and make UTSA an attractive destination for dual-career academic couples.
Similar to the FDP, the Advancing Academic Excellence through Accelerated Hiring of Nationally Recognized Faculty Program (NRP) will complement traditional search processes by utilizing the Special Opportunity Hiring mechanism to enable additional hiring of highly accomplished faculty that address specific needs. Prospective candidates will be evaluated on their ability to enhance national/international pre-eminence in a priority area, increase sponsored, foundation and/or industry funding to meet institutional goals and promote disciplinary collaboration across departments and colleges to advance academic excellence at UTSA.
Voluntary Separation Incentive Program
UTSA is fortunate to have many tenured faculty with long-standing service to the university. The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program is intended to support eligible tenured faculty who may be interested in making a career or life change by removing common barriers that can prevent taking the next step in life and pursuing new opportunities in career transition. Faculty who are eligible to participate in the current program are being notified this week and will have the opportunity to attend information sessions to learn more about the program.
“Combined, these programs within the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative for 2020 will serve to further elevate UTSA’s intellectual community of scholars,” said Espy. “I invite faculty and staff to learn more about the entire initiative, and specifically to consider submitting a proposal for the Clustered and Connected Hiring Program.”
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Professor Swisher is Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on risk factors in adolescence and the transition to adulthood (e.g., neighborhood poverty, exposure to violence, parental incarceration) and their consequences for health and well-being across the life course. Recent work has focused on educational mobility and, in particular, challenges faced by first generation college students.
Virtual EventJoin UTSA for a virtual screening of “Hap Veltman’s San Antonio Country” with the filmmaker Noi Mahoney. See the story of the extraordinary life of Hap Veltman and the nightclub that kick-started San Antonio’s gay civil rights movement. Professor Derek Robertson will lead a discussion with the filmmaker, followed by audience Q&A. Free and open to the UTSA and entire San Antonio community.
Virtual EventJoin us this summer as we showcase innovative and interesting topics from each institution of the UT System. Register and Join
Virtual EventSecure your vaccine ahead of time by registering for an appointment. Walk-in appointments will also be available while supplies last. The vaccines available are the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
Denman Ballroom (SU 2.01.28)San Antonio Pride Parade featuring make-up tutorials, Peace Love Pride Wedding, special guests. More details to come.
Virtual EventUTSA Campus Recreation will be doing a giveaway in celebration of Pride Month. The first 51 patrons to come to the Rec will win a free t-shirt!
Campus Rec, Main CampusSecure your vaccine ahead of time by registering for an appointment. Walk-in appointments will also be available while supplies last. The vaccines available are the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
Denman Ballroom (SU 2.01.28The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
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We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
