Because Cal State Long Beach welcomes its new faculty members to the school as well as to the country, CSULB has had an increase in international faculty this year.
Thirteen professors were hired on visas this year, as opposed to last year, when only five were hired.
The new faculty is spread out among different colleges and departments.
“Two professors are in finance, two in geography, one in physics, one in mathematics, one in journalism, one in Russian literature, two in art, one in history, one in communications and one in engineering,” said Margaret Merryfield, associate vice president for Academic Personnel.
“We are hiring more faculty in more areas; if you hire more faculty, then the numbers in any category are likely to increase. It is likely that there are more highly qualified applicants from outside of the United States,” said Terre Allen, faculty center director for Professional Development. “Finally, our campus values diversity, international education and global perspectives. We offer many excellent programs with a national, international or global focus. Having faculty with special expertise in these areas is critical to the success of such programs.”
The department of journalism has a new professor from Brazil; Professor Heloiza Herscovitz, a native of Brazil, received her masters from the University of Montevallo in Alabama and her doctorate degree from the University of Florida. She has worked as reporter and editor for different publications in Brazil, as well as in television and radio and as a press consultant.
“I’ve always wanted to live and work in America. There are more resources here than in South America for research and education, and working conditions are much better,” Herscovitz said.
She taught at Florida International University for several years before she decided to go back to Brazil. When she heard about the assistant professor position opening at CSULB, she decided to apply and come back to America.
Herscovitz explained the interview and hiring process she experienced.
“Thirty people applied for the position, three were called back for an interview and I was amongst those three. I was flown out for the final interview and accepted the position in August of this year.”
“American influence in education is becoming global,” Herscovitz said. “I really like the fact that the laws, rules and core values of journalism are the same in America as they are in Brazil.”
Professors can access job openings from the CSULB Web site or from different publications on the Internet.
“One very popular publication that offers information on job openings is ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’ which can be accessed on the Internet at www.chronicle.com,” said Merryfield.
Herscovitz said, “I have used www.aejmc.org, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications to search for job openings in the past.”