California’s state universities hiring new faculty

Help wanted: California’s state universities are hiring 700 full-time faculty members, putting the skids on years of class and staff reductions.

The Los Angeles Times says the system is under pressure to move undergraduates through the system faster and reduce reliance on temporary instructors. Colleges across the country have hired temporary teachers because of budget cuts.

The Cal State system is looking at record demand in the fall, with the number of undergraduate applications at the system’s 23 campuses expected to be over 760,000.

In 2010, there were only 108 new hires for the system. Last year, there were 470.

Money for hiring comes primarily from a $125 million increase in state funding last year and the juggling of resources on individual campuses.