USF, Leach College of Nursing, looking to fill employee vacancies

USF's St. Clare campus is located just minutes from the Joliet campus on Route 30.

The University of St. Francis (USF) has gone the first month of the new term with 47 vacant positions across its Joliet and Albuquerque campuses. Of the 47 vacancies, 24 are listed as admin, staff or faculty, and the other 23 are student openings. 

Of the 24 admin, staff and faculty postings, 19 are for jobs available on the Joliet campuses. 

The Leach College of Nursing has the most departmental openings out of the Joliet campus postings. The nursing school is in search of five professors (two adjunct faculty positions and three full-time positions). 

The Leach College of Nursing Dean Dr. Yeijin Yeom says that it has become increasingly difficult to find and hire qualified nursing instructors. 

“These days it’s extremely hard to find qualified nursing instructors,” Dr. Yeom said. “They need to at least have a master’s or a doctorate to teach the graduate courses.”

Dr. Yenji Yeom, courtesy of USF Marketing

It’s taken a combination effort to get these courses covered. 

“It has taken all of the faculty’s effort to meet the students’ needs,” Dr. Yeom said. “All the faculty understand this issue and they want to make sure that students develop their confidence, knowledge and skill to become a nurse.”

Dr. Yeom says that in conversations with other deans on campus, she has come to realize that they are experiencing similar issues. She says that many are deciding to stay in the private sector rather than teach, citing financial concerns.

“Nurse educator salaries are lower than practicing nurses,” she said. “Especially advanced practice nursing and all the things like that.”

The university has notably been experiencing financial difficulties in recent years. Clubs received heavy cuts to their budgets this year, and academic departments have suffered similar cuts. 

Despite the small potential applicant pool, Dr. Yeom, like many of those hiring at USF, don’t want to rush into anything.

“We want to wait and hire the right person for our team and students,” Dr. Yeom said. “Rather than hurry up, we want to slowly interview.”

The biggest job that is soon to come available is the university president. Current president Dr. Arvid Johnson announced his sudden retirement at the end of last school year to take effect at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. 

Dr. Johnson’s successor will inherit an institution facing financial questions in a critical time for higher education. Just two years ago, Trinity International, a school of comparable size and status to USF located in Deerfield, Illinois, transitioned to an exclusively online curriculum, and shut down its in-person campus. 

In an email penned to the “USF Family” by Steven Hernandez, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the search committee, Hernandez announced the beginning of the search for the university in an email to USF staff and students on the morning of Thursday, September 19. 

“This announcement and its candidate qualifications requirements reflect the results of a stakeholder survey, on campus focus groups and the hard work of Academic Search and the USF Presidential Search Committee,” the email said. “We are grateful for the participation of so many members of our campus community in that survey and in the consultants’ visit to campus, and we are confident that the leadership agenda and characteristics reflects the insights so many of you shared.”

In the email, Hernandez encouraged the community to nominate potential candidates for the position by emailing StFrancisPresident@academicsearch.org. 

USF job postings can be found by visiting the university website (www.stfrancis.edu), scrolling to the footer and selecting the “employment” tab. 

All job statistics are accurate as of Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.