Faculty searches and interviews for next fall are coming to an end on Simpson’s campus.

There were six positions that needed to be filled in four different departments.

Four positions have been filled, and the two remaining positions will be filled before the end of May Term.

Interviews were conducted this week to fill the gap in the education department. Also this week, one of the two candidates for an open voice teacher position in the music department will be invited to join the faculty here at Simpson.

“We’re trying to increase the number of female professors in the faculty,” said Bruce Haddox,vice president and academic dean.

Female candidates have been hired for three of the four positions already filled this spring.

This year the communications department has hired two new faculty members to fill open positions in both corporate communications and speech and rhetoric.

Last fall Susanne Gubanc was hired to fill the position for corporate communications. Gubanc currently teaches at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

This spring, the communications department filled their tenure-track position in speech and rhetoric. The candidate chosen to fill this position is Erin Reser. Reser earned both her bachelors and master’s degrees in communication and rhetoric, and is currently a doctoral student at the Colorado State University.

The social science department recently hired Carolyn Dallinger to fill the need for a professor of social science. Dallinger earned a master’s degree in social work from Simpson College and has also worked as an attorney for the Commission of Civil Rights in Chicago. This Simpson alumna will teach the classes that are best suited to her experience in social work, and the other classes left over from the previous position will be added to Lora Friedrich’s class load. Both Friedrich and Dallinger will have full class loads next fall.

The department of biology and environmental sciences filled an open position in their department after Dr. Bill Gilbert, professor of biology, retired last December. Dr. Brian Peer will fill the open position within the biology department. Dr. Peer is an ornithologist, and has earned his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. Peer is currently residing in Wisconsin with his wife and children and is completing postdoctoral work at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

“I think that we’ve gotten a really outstanding group of people so far,” said Haddox.

According to Haddox, it’s important for each new professor to not only possess a love of teaching, but also a desire to teach at a small liberal arts college.

“In order to really fit in at Simpson you really have to be committed to the students and have a desire, more than anything else, to teach,” said Haddox.