Penn econ profs in high demand

The Econ Department is recruiting five new profs to teach next year. Economics Department Chairman Ken Wolpin understands all too well the laws of supply and demand. Too many undergraduates interested in taking Economics classes -- and a shortage of faculty to teach them -- have placed Wolpin on a mission to hire five new professors. "We are limited by the number of faculty we have and that's limiting the number of courses we are offering," he said. "As we increase the faculty, we will add new courses." According to Wolpin, the Economics Department is currently recruiting three senior faculty members as well as two assistant professors. "We are hopeful to hire three senior [faculty] before the end of this semester," he said. But while College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman was also hopeful that the department would meet its target date, he was less optimistic. "The likelihood of [filling] all five positions is relatively low," Beeman said, pointing out the difficulty of securing top senior faculty with both strong, theoretical knowledge and practical, real-world experience. "This is a top-10 Economics Department and the competition is intense." According to Wolpin, the department is heavily into the interview stage of the recruitment process. Within the next few weeks, 11 junior faculty candidates and four prospective senior faculty members will visit campus. At this point, though, no formal offers have been extended. The authorization for the new faculty hirings falls in line with the School of Arts and Sciences' strategic plan. Released last spring, the plan calls for an increase in the number of Economics professors and an extension of the department's research impact. It also comes at a time when many Economics majors are complaining that required intermediate-level courses are too large and that too few sections are offered. "They seem to be very crowded," said College sophomore Mike Lorelli, an Economics major. "There are a ton of people in them." "The department is trying to be accommodating but there are just not enough classes and big rooms," added College junior Debby Korney, who is also majoring in Econ. And non-majors complained that enrolling in popular courses, such as Economics 136: Law and Economics, was nearly impossible. Wolpin admitted that the department had underestimated the number of students interested in Economics courses this semester, but he pointed out that the department has tried to rectify that problem. "We added courses [yesterday] because we realized that we hit the limit," he said, pointing out that new sections were created in two intermediate-level courses.