In a continuing effort to increase enrollment, NIU’s physical therapy program is trying to fill three full-time faculty positions for the fall 1989 semester.

Mary Jane Harris, physical therapy program coordinator, said the program must have five full-time faculty members in order to fulfill a requirement established by NIU Provost Kendall Baker last April. The physical therapy program currently has two full-time faculty on staff.

NIU Professional Studies Dean Peggy Sullivan said that although no formal interviews have taken place, a faculty search is being conducted through professional physical therapy organizations throughout the country. Harris added that the program has advertised the open positions through professional journals and letters to accredited professional organizations.

Harris said the program is searching for faculty specializing in pediatrics, geriatrics and neurophysiology.

Sullivan said trying to fill more than one faculty position at the same time is beneficial to the program. “It’s possible to match two (people with) different specializations,” she said.

Harris said the program has set two separate application deadlines of Feb. 15 and March 1 for the open positions. She said interviews will begin after all applications are reviewed.

The March 1 deadline has been set for the program’s clinical educational opening, Harris said. She added that this position most likely will be the easiest of the three positions to fill.

“There is a real shortage of faculty in the physical therapy field,” she said, adding that the deadline for the two faculty positions was set in February to allow sufficient time to find qualified applicants and possible deadline extensions. The other two openings are for faculty positions requiring a doctorate degree.

The three available positions will not be officially filled until Aug. 16, Sullivan said.

The program could undergo some restructuring, depending on the skills of the faculty hired to fill the positions, Sullivan said. The program has undergone similar restructuring in the past, she added.

The five faculty member requirement was one of four criteria that Baker said must be completed before the program’s enrollment could increase. Other criteria included an increase in outside financial resources, the establishment of a faculty practice plan and increased collaboration with internal and external agencies.

The physical therapy program has also acquired additional laboratory space, adjacent to the program’s offices located in Pottinger House at 520 College View Court.

The garage space was renovated over the last several months to accommodate equipment and facilities for faculty research.

The space acquired by the physical therapy program about two years ago was recently renovated after funding was made available through Baker’s office, Harris said. The space was originally used by the NIU Physical Plant for storage.

Sullivan said the new space will help physical therapy faculty fulfill their research responsibilities, as well as provide students in the program with an opportunity to observe research.

Harris also said the new facility will provide a good resource area for faculty research. She said the physical therapy program incorporates research and observation in its undergraduate curriculum, and the facility will be used for those purposes.