As the popularity of majoring in English rises, so does the demand for faculty. The English department is aware of this fact and has begun the search for a new professor to fill the vacancy left by Susan Nash. Nash, who primarily taught literature classes, retired at the end of last year.
Spearheading the search is English staff member Kevin Griffith. Griffith said that because Nash retired, the English department received approval from the administration to conduct a search for a full-time tenured professor.
“We decided, since there’s a real increase in the number of creative writing majors … it would be wise to have someone to teach fiction writing,” Griffith said. The English department has a strong presence in areas such as poetry, with Griffith being among several published poets at Capital.
When asked about the needs the department was looking to fill, Griffith said, “We really needed someone to teach fiction writing and to … teach composition classes and [fulfill] other needs in our department.”
David Summers, department head, said that the goal of the search is not to replace Nash measure for measure, but to find a professor who specializes in writing and teaching fiction. According to Summers, the provost is working on creating a masters-level program that would incorporate a lot of creative writing.
Summers said “you need several people who have extensive publications in creative writing” to create a legitimate masters program at any university, not only Capital.
“It’s a pretty long process to get a tenure-track job,” Griffith said. “Because the reward is when you get [the job] … you have incredible job security, and it’s a really valuable position.”
Griffith said he hopes the procedure will be completed by April 2016. Both he and Summers were quick to mention that the hiring process is going very well.
“It’s only been about week, and there’s well over 30 applicants already,” Summers said.
“I think we’ll have a successful search because there are way more fiction writers out there than there are jobs in academia,” Griffith said. “People who have expertise in fiction writing have been overproduced … so there’s way more people out there than there are jobs.”
The search is not over yet, but both Griffith and Summers are sure that the Capital University English Department will only improve once a full-time professor is hired.
