On his first full day as the University of Oregon’s new chief academic officer, Senior Vice President and Provost Scott Coltrane engaged faculty members in a discussion on the future of academics at the university.

The academic planning discussion Friday in Gerlinger Lounge was about setting priorities. One key issue is the university’s need to hire additional faculty members to keep up with the increase in student enrollment in recent years.

“It’s clear we need to invest in new faculty,” said Coltrane, who was appointed provost on Thursday after serving in the post on an interim basis since July.

Historically, faculty hiring has been a decentralized process at the UO, with departments and schools making their own decisions about who to hire, Coltrane said. Now, the university is exploring the idea of a cluster hiring initiative, in which it would hire three to five new faculty members in a single academic field.

Objectives of a cluster hiring initiative include advancing the university’s research and creative capacity to enhance its national and international profile, and to address key social, scientific and creative challenges.

At the same time, the university has to address the “big, big issue” of space, particularly space for faculty and classroom space, Coltrane said.

The final two academic planning discussions will be held on implementation strategies in Gerlinger Lounge on Friday, Feb. 28, from 8:30-10 a.m. and Tuesday, March 18, from 1-2:30 p.m.

Additional details and documentation about academic planning are posted on the Provost’s website.

- by Tim Christie, Public Affairs Communications