News

Jordan places Metro on the tenure-track for tomorrow

By Heather Embrey
hembrey@mscd.edu

Metro President Stephen Jordan assured students and faculty that the recruitment process for hiring 60 new tenure-track faculty was beginning, one of several key points during his first public speech as president.

“ This step will be the first of several toward a goal to restore the growing number of student credit hours generated by the full-time tenure-track faculty from its 38 percent to a more acceptable 65 percent,” Jordan said in his welcoming ceremony speech Sept. 7 at the Ninth Street Park.

Jordan recommended that the board of trustees adjust and increase the salary rate of full-time faculty members from $788 to $960 per credit hour for the spring semester.

Starting off his speech, Jordan thanked the Metro community for welcoming him and his wife, Ruthie, back to campus where he received his master’s and PhD at UCD.

“ I’ve spent a lot of time listening and learning about our strengths and needed areas of improvement,” Jordan said. “I promise to continue to listen and learn and work hard for you.”

His promises were met with applause as students and faculty listened to the 15-minute speech, in which he outlined a three-phase plan for improvement he hopes to accomplish within a 10-year period.

“ I believe that the metropolitan student and faculty of the 21st century in the future ... will be engaged in a host of issues and problems, which cut across municipal and county boundaries, states and even nations,” Jordan said.

The plan will help Metro become the pre-eminent urban, public, baccalaureate college in the country, he said.

The first phase, which will continue over the next two years, is the stabilization of the school, both academically and financially.

The next six years will be dedicated to growth and investment as the second phase begins. Jordan said the growth of enrollment was not as important as the growth of quality and the reputation of Metro as a main “urban college.”

Jordan’s view on Metro’s future included a promise that he will help prepare students to live and work in an urban environment when they graduate from the Auraria Campus.

The final phase will take place toward the end of the 10-year process. By assessing and evaluating the other two phases, Jordan and the board of trustee members can decide whether or not their progress has made any impact on students over the 10-year period.

Mayor John Hickenlooper was accompanied by several faculty and board members in welcoming Jordan.

Hickenlooper, who spoke for just a few minutes, said he was happy Jordan was grounded in Colorado and that he wanted to see kids who attend public schools in Colorado continue on to higher education within the state.

“ The best thing to do is to invest in our students here in Colorado schools and see that our investment stays put.”