UNM's creative writing program will be taking in two College of Santa Fe professors who lost their jobs when CSF closed in May.
Professors Dana Levin and Mark Behr will begin teaching in the fall.
CSF racked up nearly $40 million in debt between 2000 and 2008. In February, the 150-year-old university declared that it would be closing at the end of the 2009 spring semester.
Dana Levin said she has just been taking it one step at a time since CSF's closure, like many professors in her position.
"I feel incredibly grateful that the University of New Mexico has decided to hire me," she said. "Knowing that the higher education community in New Mexico is aware of what is going on and is reaching out to help their own is really heartening."
CSF administrators have tried many alternatives to redeem their institution, including attempting to sell it to a public New Mexico university, but have since come up empty-handed. In the mean time, CSF's financial fiasco has left many professors without jobs or healthcare, forcing some to leave the state to pursue a new career.
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Creative Writing Director Julie Shigekuni said it was a coincidence that the positions became available at the same time professors needed them.
"The creative writing program was looking for a new Joseph M. Russo endowment chair, (and) as we were looking at prospective candidates I happened to meet Dana," she said. "It was just a serendipitous moment where we really wanted her to come and she was looking to make a move."
Levin said she was looking for jobs elsewhere when she received the offer.
"I was so surprised to find this position because I thought that I was going to have to leave the state if I wanted to remain working in academia," she said. "There just didn't seem to be a lot of options, it looked like I was going to have to be prepared to go anywhere."
Shigekuni said they were able to hire Levin easily because her salary will not be paid by the general fund.
"The endow(ment) chair is separate from regular university hires to an extent, because the funding for the chair position comes from the Joseph M. Russo endowment fund," she said. "But like any hire it had to be approved by the administration. Once we found Dana, it was approved by the creative writing program, then by the English department chair, then to the dean of Arts and Sciences - all the way up to the provost."
Behr, the other CSF hire, is currently on sabbatical in South Africa and will return in July to begin the new semester.
English student Ashley Montoya said she is glad Levin and Behr can stay in a New Mexican university.
"New Mexico isn't known for having great academic standards," she said. "It is important that we keep our good teachers here in New Mexico. It isn't fair that so many other good teachers at College of Santa Fe are just losing their jobs."
Shigekuni said the creative writing department will be benefited by the incoming professors.
"I think it is a great opportunity for the University and for our students to work with these professors that have such great reputations," she said.
