The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences will add 24 new permanent, full-time faculty members this fall, according to a University release.

The release states that the 24 new faculty members will join departments in the sciences, social sciences and humanities and will raise the total number of full-time faculty members to 491, a figure that does not include full-time visiting or research faculty. The slew of new hires comes after faculty department chairs reported difficulty hiring new full-time professors last year and officials reported a 6 percent drop in full-time faculty hires during fall 2021 when compared to fall 2020.

“Columbian College will welcome 24 new permanent full-time faculty this fall, adding expertise to disciplines across the sciences, social sciences and humanities,” the release states.

Officials reimplemented University-wide hiring efforts last fall after lifting the hiring freeze put in place in spring 2021 to limit the financial fallout of the pandemic.

CCAS officials looked to make a dozen faculty hires as part of a school-wide push to bolster diversity within the school after community members launched a petition that garnered more than 1,000 signatures in spring 2021 asking officials to “cluster hire” minority faculty.

“We now have an opportunity to transform our curriculum, our teaching approaches and our faculty through these new hires,” CCAS Dean Paul Wahlbeck said in an email at the time. “This effort will continue on searches going forward.”