Welcome!
This page provides information about our department and community for our tenure track candidates.
About our department
The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college that enrolls approximately 1,700 students per year. The Department of Economics, currently has 7 full-time tenure lines – one full professor, three Associate Professors, and three Assistant Professors. We also have the privilege of hosting two Visiting Assistant Professors, and one part-time adjunct member. Department courses serve several academic programs; primarily Economics, Business Economics, but also interdisciplinary programs in Urban Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Environmental Studies, and Global and International Studies. The combined number of majors in Economics and Business Economics total 100+ students. We also support a unique minor in International Business and a small number of Entrepreneurship students who self design their academic program.
Our department seeks a pluralistic and inclusive approach to understanding economics. In our core and elective courses, we highlight the limitations of one way of thinking. We encourage our students to explore other ways of knowing the world.
The distinguishing curricular feature of the College of Wooster is its senior capstone project, called Independent Study (I.S.). Every student is required to complete a thesis project under the mentorship of an individual faculty member. Our curriculum is designed to develop the necessary theoretical, empirical, writing, and critical thinking skills in students to help them produce independent research during their final year. Faculty mentor students throughout the research process in regular (usually weekly) meetings.
The standard teaching load is officially “5.5” courses a year. This teaching load typically includes 2 courses each Fall and Spring. In addition, thesis advising is counted to this teaching load. Depending on the number of majors, the number of students we mentor fluctuates between 3-6 senior students per faculty over the academic year as well as 4-6 juniors for an 8-10 week period.
Faculty research and scholarship is supported through College and the Department. These include support for conference attendance and faculty development funds. For example, one of our faculty is currently on sabbatical in Spain at the University of Valencia.
New faculty members are eligible for their first semester-long sabbatical after three academic years of teaching, or a full-year sabbatical after 5 years. For tenured faculty, the frequency of sabbatical eligibility increases: Semester-long research leaves can be awarded after 5 consecutive semesters (2.5 years) and full-year sabbaticals can be awarded after 8 consecutive semesters (every 4 years). Faculty receive their full salary and benefits during research leaves. Leaves give faculty an opportunity to advance their research projects. They also give us an opportunity to live a full and varied life in different cultures and research environments throughout our careers. For example, in the recent past, two faculty recently were on a research leave in Tanzania and Italy. Others completed summer research and attended conferences in various locations like Canada and Korea.
Faculty maintain active research agendas and professional affiliations with a wide variety of national and international universities, research groups, as well as community organizations.
The College and Town
The College of Wooster forms part of the Great Lakes College Association (GLCA) that includes Albion College, Allegheny College, Antioch College, Denison University, DePauw University, Earlham College, Hope College, Kalamazoo College, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Wabash College. Faculty collaborate with these schools on a variety of initiatives including joint courses and research. In addition, Wooster faculty also collaborate with faculty and students at Ohio State. The Ohio State has an Agricultural Research Centre (OARDC) 10 minutes away from the College.
The City of Wooster (pop. 30000) is a bucolic micropolitan city. It is the county seat of Wayne County. It is centrally located in northeastern Ohio approximately 45 miles from Cleveland, 90 miles from Columbus, and 25 miles from Akron. The City has been voted “the 37th best place to live in Money Magazine’s list of Top 100 Places to Live in 2017. The organization crunched data to find cities with a healthy economy, affordable homes and high quality of life.”