Another Poli Sci prof to leave U.

JosZ Antonio Cheibub will leave at the end of the semester for Yale U. The already embattled Political Science Department, which has been struggling in recent years to recruit new professors, will face the loss of another of its junior faculty members next year. Professor JosZ Antonio Cheibub, who specializes in comparative politics and Latin American politics, will leave Penn's faculty at the end of the semester to join the Political Science Department at Yale University. Cheibub said yesterday that Yale "made a good offer for me to work there," calling the move "a good professional opportunity." He noted that Penn's recruitment problems in recent years have left its Political Science Department behind that of many peer institutions. "It's just a better department," he said of Yale's Political Science Department, adding that it has hired several comparative politics specialists during the past few years. Despite the ongoing difficulties the department has faced, Ian Lustick, the chairman of Penn's Political Science Department, said Cheibub's loss is "not going to be a major problem." The department currently plans to hire one junior faculty member this year, he said, and the loss of Cheibub means that one more assistant professor in comparative politics will need to be hired next year. "We are going to be recruiting in comparative politics next year, which we didn't think we were going to do," Lustick said. Lustick added that the department's biggest difficulties have been in its recruitment of senior faculty members -- not junior ones, who he said have typically been easier to bring to Penn. The Political Science Department may use the new opportunity to recruit someone with expertise in European politics, which some department members feel is a weak area right now, Lustick noted. However, Cheibub, who is currently in his fifth year at Penn, said he felt the department had been ignoring hirings for junior faculty positions in recent years, especially in the area of comparative politics. "They haven't recruited in this area for some time," Cheibub said. "Penn isn't hiring enough assistant professors," he added. "They are trying to recruit senior faculty." Cheibub will continue as a junior faculty member at Yale. The Political Science Department has been hit by several resignations, retirements and failed tenure bids over the past three years and has struggled to find replacements to fill its depleted faculty. Last year, the department received an added boost when it landed three new faculty members -- one full professor, one tenured associate professor and one assistant professor. In a strategic plan unveiled last spring, the School of Arts and Sciences named the Political Science Department as deserving of increased faculty appointments, calling for the department to be provided with more funding in the next several years.

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