I was reading the January/February issue of Books & Culture last night. It is a great issue: Randall Stephens on Dochuk, George Marsden on Brinkley, Timothy Larsen on Ebel, James Guth and Lyman Kellstedt on Putnam and Campbell. There is even an advertisement for a certain book about Christian America. (Thanks Messiah College!)
But what struck me most was the ad for Indiana Wesleyan University that appears on p. 34. The ad promotes three books on student development written by IWU professors. The following statement appears at the center of the ad:
If you’re interested in working with colleagues who research and write about helping students find their sense of life purpose, give us a call.
Is the purpose of this ad to solicit faculty? Is this an open invitation to apply for a job a Indiana Wesleyan? Am I missing something? Have I misread the ad? I don’t think I have ever seen a college or university take out an advertisement like this in order to attract faculty, especially in this economic climate. While other college and universities, especially Christian colleges and universities, are looking for ways to cut faculty lines, IWU is issuing a cattle call.
From what I hear through the grapevine, IWU has a thriving online education and continuing education program. They seem to be funneling the money made from this program into their traditional programs. I also hear that the Lilly Endowment has helped a great deal. It certainly helps to be a religious college in the state of Indiana!
More power to you Indiana Wesleyan University.
Didn't see the ad, but my guess would be they're recruiting adjuncts for their “accelerated” and online sites.
I'm certain that's what it is – they've expanded as far as Columbus to the east, and are recruiting heavily for online and satellite adjuncts.
Seeing as the advert is directed towards readers of Books & Culture, I think it is fairly clear that IWU has “traditional” faculty in mind. And the advert doesn't read like a cattle call to me. It looks like an effort to raise an institutional profile among folks (like B&C readers)to help enrich applicant pools when faculty openings do happen to arise.
Thanks for this clarification, David. Perhaps “cattle call” was a bad choice of words. I wish IWU the best on their hiring efforts.