Here at ACC, we are concluding the second year of a three-year opportunity to hire approximately 100 additional new full-time faculty. Historically, our full-time faculty hiring has consisted of two approaches. First, we have replaced full-time faculty who have retired or resigned (including moving vacant full-time faculty positions to other departments where there was a greater need). In combination with replacing vacant faculty positions, we have also used the budget process to allow instructional departments to request new full-time faculty positions. Funding for new full-time faculty positions has been variable through the years, as it is subject to other high-priority needs and tied to enrollment projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years ago, our Board of Trustees approved a \u201cpot of money\u201d to hire 100 new full-time faculty over the course of three years. Community colleges are measured on the percentage of semester credit hours (SCH) taught by full-time faculty. If you look at the Texas Public Higher Education Almanacs<\/a> put out by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), you\u2019ll see that this data point ranges rather broadly, but our peers show this for Fall 2022:<\/p>\n ACC\u2019s Fall 2024 Fact Book<\/a> shows that, by headcount, we had 751 full-time faculty members and 1065 adjunct faculty members. Of the total number of full-time faculty, 693 were instructional faculty (we also have librarian faculty and counseling faculty). ACC\u2019s own Collegewide Departmental Snapshot 2024 from OIRA shows that in academic year 2022-2023, prior to the launch of the three-year full-time faculty hiring plan, the collegewide percentage of SCH taught by full-time faculty was at 58% (no change from AY 2021-2022). <\/p>\n Why the 10-point difference between what we see from THECB (68% of SCH taught by FT faculty) and our internal snapshot (58% of SCH taught by FT faculty)? We asked our guru for all things data-related, Dr. Jenna Cullinane Hege, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research & Analytics. She tells us that THECB takes a narrower approach in its effort to provide peer comparisons. THECB includes fundable hours only, the Fall semester only, and all individuals with a faculty position teaching a class. Our OIRA colleagues want to be more comprehensive, so we include both fundable and nonfundable hours, the full academic year, and only the primary instructor. Using our 58% internal data, we set a goal to increase that overall percentage to 65%.<\/p>\n To intentionally and strategically try to increase the overall percentage of semester credit hours taught by full-time faculty, we take a data-informed approach. We look at the departmental snapshots from OIRA, we look at a program\u2019s curriculum, its accrediting standards (where applicable), its enrollment patterns and labor market outcomes, and many other factors.<\/p>\n Below is a table showing an overview of where we\u2019ve hired new full-time faculty for AY 2025 and AY 2025. We\u2019ve hired 55 to date, and we will be posting additional positions in the coming AY 2026.<\/p>\n Our goals for this three-year initiative are to open up opportunities for adjunct faculty to apply for full-time positions, to bring in new perspectives to our teaching and learning enterprise, to respond to our explosive enrollment growth, and to come closer to our desired college-wide ratio of 65% of semester credit hours taught by full-time faculty. We\u2019ll keep you posted as we move into year three of this initiative.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Full-Time Faculty Hiring Overview Here at ACC, we are concluding the second year of a three-year opportunity to hire approximately 100 additional new full-time faculty. Historically, our full-time faculty hiring has consisted of two approaches. … Continue reading \n
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\n \nDean Area<\/th>\n Number of new positions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Arts & Digital Media<\/td>\n 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Advanced Manufacturing<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Business<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Computer Science & Information Technology<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Design, Construction, and Applied Tech<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Health Sciences<\/td>\n 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Liberal Arts, Humanities & Communications<\/td>\n 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Liberal Arts, Social & Behavioral Sciences<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Science, Engineering, & Math<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n