Fall at St. Olaf brings a lot of changes in the weather, colors, and faces around campus. The start of a new term brings not only a large number of new students, but a lot of other new faces also. This fall, St. Olaf not only has a new president but a lot of new faculty as well­a total of 43 new faculty members in a number of different departments.

The music department has 11 new faculty members this year, the most of any department. However, only two of their new hires are tenured or on term appointment. These are Anne Adams, who is a new full time voice teacher, and Catherine Rodland, who is taking a two-year term post doctorate position. This position is new to St. Olaf College and will be given to people in the early stages of their teaching careers. Rodland has recently finished up her doctorate work and is going to be studying organ performance and theory while developing her resume.

The majority of the new professors are here for only a semester or year. Most of them are replacing people on sabbatical. For example, Timothy Mahr, St. Olaf Band director, will be going on sabbatical for the spring semester. There are currently three people hired to fill in when he leaves. The music department currently has 65 faculty members. This means one in every six professors is new to St. Olaf. Is this unusual? Dan Dressen, music department chair, says no. "We have a lot of part-time voice and instrumental teachers that give lessons. They have a pretty high turnover," said Dressen. "A lot of them receive full time positions at other places."

So how do the new professors like their new home away from home? "I really like it here. Itıs a very nice school," said new art historian Nancy Thompson. "I really enjoy the art department here. [The other art faculty] are very open-minded people." Thompson came from William and Mary College in Virginia, where she also taught art history.

Not all of the professors are coming from other institutions, however. Mirium Newton, new statistics professor, is a first time teacher. Newton recently graduated from the University of Minnesota, with a masterıs degree in plant pathology and statistics. She will be teaching introduction to statistics and a 200-level course. "I really enjoy the environment here," said Newton. One of my guest teachers was Martha Wallace (a St. Olaf mathematics professor), and she said that they were looking for professors and that is how I got the job here." Newton is a one-year hire. The mathematics department has been hiring professors on a one-year basis for the last three years and is looking for someone to put on a tenure track.

One has to wonder what first impression we students leave on the faculty. "The students here are very smart, but a little shy," said Thompson. "I love the students here," said Newton. "They are so friendly." Letıs hope our favorable impression lasts as we move into midterm.