The number of faculty members compared to students has President Gregory Geoffroy worried about the status of the university, he said.

“The number of students is up while the number of faculty is down,” he said. “The student-to-faculty ratio has increased by 16 percent.”

Geoffroy said the student-to-faculty ratio is used nationally to assess the educational quality of a university.

“The increase in the student-to-faculty ratio causes a great concern to me as well as to many in the university,” he said.

In order to combat this problem, Geoffroy said his major budget priority will be to hire more tenure and tenure-track faculty.

“Due to the recent budget cuts, this will have to be a long-term goal,” he said. “But I will continue to place an emphasis on faculty. They are the basis of what the university is centered around.”

Geoffroy said the lack of faculty impacts the quality of education available at Iowa State, which is the general business of the school.

“The lack of faculty causes us a great deal of stress,” he said. “I know the classes are becoming larger, and students are having a hard time getting a seat in class.”

University officials are searching for ways to increase the number of tenure faculty despite budget cuts, Geoffroy said.

Brenda Behling, assistant to the provost, said a tenure faculty member is guaranteed employment. Tenure is a status granted after a trial period to a teacher that gives protection from summary dismissal.

“Tenure faculty is common in higher education, such as colleges and even high schools,” she said.

Tenure-track faculty members are hired with the expectation he or she will serve in a probationary seven-year period. After that, Behling said, the individual will then be reviewed and considered for tenure faculty.

“The tenure-track position is not a guarantee for a tenure position,” she said. “There is a comprehensive review process, which includes evaluation from peers, administrators and approval by the Board of Regents.”

Behling said quality faculty is important to the quality of the school.

“The numbers of faculty have an impact on class size and accessibility for students,” she said.

Currently, Behling said, Iowa State has 1,077 tenure faculty members of full and part-time status. There are 348 tenure-track faculty members.

“Iowa State has continued to provide a quality education at a reasonable price,” she said. “The goal of our president is to maintain that quality.”