"Of the 99 new hires, 60 are pursuing tenure at the university, also an increase from the 45 who sought tenure in 2006.

"A lot of people retired," Southern Miss Interim Provost Cynthia Moore said. "Unfortunately, we had a few people pass away. The increase is affected by a number of things. Sometimes it takes a good year-and-a-half to fill an empty position.   ...

According to Moore, many vacant positions at the university are filled by non-tenured faculty such as student teachers and visiting faculty who are considered experts in their field."