The UNA departments of history and political science, English and communications are currently in the process of hiring four new faculty members to fill tenure-track positions in each department. Two positions are currently open in the Department of History and Political Science, while the departments of English and communications each have one position open.

“Ron Smith is retiring, and the new professor will replace him,” said Dr. Larry Adams, professor and chair of the Department of English. “The new professor will be teaching technical writing, technical editing, possibly some other upper-level writing courses, first-year composition and sophomore literature.”

Adams said the professor’s contract would begin in August of this year. Two candidates for the position are currently under consideration, narrowed down from a pool of nine.

The professorships in the Department of History and Political Science would also begin in August of this year.

“We have two faculty searches this semester,” said Dr. Christopher Maynard, professor and chair of the Department of History and Political Science. “One is early modern European history, which is a replacement position for Dr. Tom Osborne. Dr. Osborne is retiring and will finish his service to UNA in July.”

Maynard said the department will be interviewing four candidates for the position after spring break.

“We also have a new position in public history, which we are currently accepting applications for,” Maynard said.

He said the department will soon begin conducting phone interviews for the position before beginning on-campus interviews.

“Public history is a unique field of history,” Maynard said. “It includes historic site management, archival management, preservation and a variety of other things. We’re excited about having a public historian. He or she will be able to assist us with historic sites and provide graduates who work in those sites with professional training.”

Candidates for both professorships would be required to hold a Ph.D. in their respective fields of history.

The Department of Communications is currently seeking an assistant professor of broadcast and digital journalism.

“We are hiring a new professor to help round out our offerings for our areas of broadcast,” said Dr. Pat Sanders, UNA professor of radio, television and interactive media. “We want someone with broadcast television news experience and experience producing newscasts.

“The new professor will teach undergraduate broadcast journalism, digital media, and video production courses.”

Candidates for the professorship will be required to hold a Ph.D. or master’s degree in the communications field.