Goals: [LONG-TERM GOAL 1] [LONG-TERM GOAL 2] [LONG-TERM GOAL 3] [LONG-TERM GOAL 4] [LONG-TERM GOAL 5] [LONG-TERM GOAL 6]

To foster research, scholarship, and creative activity by supporting, retaining, and recruiting faculty members who are or will become nationally and internationally known as leaders in their fields.

ACHIEVEMENTS (2009-2010):

For the past six years, the College has pursued strategic objectives and priorities to realize this goal. We have been largely successful at supporting, retaining, and recruiting a strong faculty. Since 2005, the College has hired nearly 200 new faculty from elite graduate schools in this country and abroad. Our faculty have garnered $270 M in sponsored funding, produced 2,718 scientific articles and published 119 scholarly books, 86 edited volumes, and 28 creative works. In addition, the recent NRC rankings have publicly validated what we have known internally for some time---our faculty are national players in the quality and quantity of their research and consequently our reputation within the scholarly community is growing.

The severe budget cuts sustained by the College in 2008, 2009, and 2010 have slowed our progress toward some aspects of this goal. In response to budget cuts in 2008, the College took emergency measures and canceled nearly all of the 55 searches authorized for 2008-2009 and deferred sabbaticals until 2010-2011.  We responded to the cuts not by simply conducting a budget-cutting exercise, but by engaging in serious academic planning for both the short and long-range future of the College and the University as a whole. One of our key priorities was the preservation of our tenured and tenure-track faculty lines and the support necessary for faculty productivity. Our careful planning resulted in 22 significant hires during 2009-2010 as well as 13 searches for 2010-2011. Though the number of hires and searches in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 falls short of what we need to advance our teaching and research missions, it represents significant progress toward this goal. Building a strong faculty remains a priority, for it is the single most important means of ensuring the future of the College and the University.

Faculty Recruitment:

• Hired 22 new faculty.
• Fully funded all startup commitments for faculty hired in the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010 cycles.

Faculty Promotion, Support, and Recognition :

• Tenured and promoted 21 faculty at the rank of Associate Professor and promoted 15 faculty to Full Professor .
• A total of 16 Arts and Sciences faculty have been named as American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Fellows (4 in 2008, 6 in 2009, and 6 in 2010.) .
• Full salary support for faculty recipients of prestigious fellowships.

Research Achievement and Support :

• The creation of the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment has consolidated resources for key research, academic, engagement, and service programs focusing on the environment. The new school highlights the growing prominence of environmental research at the University. For FY 2008, the University placed 19th nationally in the NSF compilation of expenditures in this area
• Continued implementation of College plan for space utilization and facilities improvement.
• Jewish Studies received program status and the Center for Digital Humanities was formally recognized as a center.
• Garnered $46.5 M in research funding from all sources in FY 2010.
• Aggressively sought federal stimulus funding from sources such as NSF and NIH.
• Established an enhanced sabbatical program for 2010-2011 offering faculty the option of a semester with full pay or a year with 65% pay.

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Contact:  Mary Ann Byrnes/Editor, Online Handbook (777-5371 or byrnes@sc.edu)