The proposal calls for expanding the number of faculty members from 974 to 1,200 by 2020.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst campusAMHERST - University of Massachusetts officials unveiled an new Frameworks for Excellence plan to the Faculty Senate on Thursday, proposing to add more faculty, bring in more students and increase the number of doctorate degrees awarded by 2020.
The university hopes to be invited to join the Association of American Universities and the goals are in keeping with what member institutions have achieved.
The report was represented by Todd A. Diacon, deputy chancellor; Bryan C. Harvey, associate provost; and Joseph Berger, co chairman of an ad hoc committee on strategic planning.
Diacon said the goal is to expand the size of the faculty from 974 to 1,200 by 2020. The report also calls for raising "faculty compensation at all ranks to the average of our national peer universities, and eventually to the average of similar universities in the Northeast."
When John V. Lombardi was chancellor, UMass had a 250 plan which netted just 57 hires, according to Randall W. Phillis, president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors.
Diacon said to boost the numbers will require the university to grant 30 percent more doctoral degrees than were awarded in 2008-2009, bringing the total to 375 degrees.
Faculty might not agree, Diacon said, since the undergraduate student to professor ratio of 18 to 1 does not demonstrate a need for additional faculty there. Also the plan calls for an increasing undergraduate enrollment to 22,500 by 2020, he said. There are about 21,000 students now.
The plan calls for maintaining the current number of in-state students at 16,000 but increasing the of out-of-state students to 6,500, an increase of 2,500.
That would be one way to increase revenues, as well as from a proposed flagship fee paid by students who attend the university here, he said.
Professor Max Page asked if there was the same level of commitment to boosting faculty as there is to the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on various building projects.
Diacon said it's the old chicken and egg question. "If you grow the faculty, it doesn't do a lot of good (to bring) faculty into old buildings" or have them have to double up on office space.
Chancellor Robert C. Holub pointed out that the money comes from different sources and money has been set aside for the building projects. The state has contributed to the building projects and some of the costs are coming from a state bond.
Holub said the institution "needs to make wise decisions so that we are going to be the ones to ascend" over the next decade. Others, he said, will not ascend.