The College of Human Sciences will be hiring four additional faculty members in special areas that have been approved by the President’s High Impact Hires initiative.

The President’s High Impact Hires Initiative provides matching funds that will help Iowa State’s colleges hire more faculty members.

“We’ve had an increase in student numbers in the college, about a 42 percent increase since 2005, with not a consequent increase in faculty to go along with it,” said Pamela White, dean of the College of Human Sciences.

Due to the higher enrollment, these new faculty members will meet the teaching needs of students, conduct research, and provide services to the extension and outreach programs.

“Overall enrollment is growing. The better faculty to student ratio will benefit us strongly in the College of Human Sciences,” said ISU President Steven Leath.

The funds will help support hiring faculty in the areas of kinesiology, education, human development and family studies, and food science and human nutrition in the College of Human Sciences.

The kinesiology department plans to hire an assistant or associate professor specializing in obesity, exercise, physical activity, genetics or environment.

The School of Education is focusing on family literacy, and that the position will collaborate with the extension and outreach programs. 

This will create the School of Education’s first extension and outreach specialist.

The collaboration between the School of Education and the Extension and Outreach Program will apply the research to benefit communities across the state of Iowa. This position will concentrate on helping families recognize the importance of literacy at an early age.

The human development and family studies department position will concentrate on healthy family dynamics, interpersonal relationships, child-adult interaction and learning how to create a positive environment for children.

The food science and human nutrition department will be hiring an assistant or associate professor in neurobiology, human health promotion and chronic disease prevention. The position will focus on the relationship between nutrition and disease.

“There are over 100 faculty searches underway on campus right now. This includes the 29 hires that are being funded by President Leath’s plan,” said Jonathan Wickert, senior vice president and provost. “As we hire more faculty members, we are also hiring more staff on campus. This will include academic advisers, campus security, staff in the library and in areas such as computer support.”

There are more faculty searches currently taking place across the colleges at Iowa State than ever before. This marks a record year for recruiting faculty to the university.

As all of the ISU colleges are currently in the process of hiring new faculty, and new faculty members could start either immediately or in fall 2014.

“We are thrilled that we are able to leverage our funds so we can get four new faculty members in the college,” White said. “It will help with our mission to try to provide students with the best educational experience possible. It will benefit students in terms of bringing in positions that are going to assist in our high enrollment areas.”