So far this school year, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) Department of Economics has been without three of its faculty members: Dr. Joab Corey, Dr. Bree Lang and Dr. Matthew Lang. All three are former UCR professors of teaching who taught introductory economics courses and upper-division economics courses during their time at UCR.
These classes were often held in the University Lecture Hall (UNLH 1000) with over 500 students enrolled in the course. When each of their impending departures was originally announced, it was extremely difficult for these professors to leave UCR. Dr. Corey explained “It was a tough decision for my family and I to make, to leave UCR. I really had invested a lot in the university. I had created a couple of scholarships… I was very involved in coaching the boxing program.”
Aside from teaching, Professor Corey coached the UCR boxing team — last year, under his tutelage — the men’s team finished second in the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association (USIBA) behind the University of Washington. And in 2023 — again under Dr. Corey’s direction — the UCR women’s team was crowned USIBA National Team Champions.
Dr. Corey reminisced fondly about his involvement with the program, remarking, “I was a pretty instrumental part in coaching that team and helping it get to the level it is at. So it was tough leaving all those ties, and I really enjoyed teaching the students at UC Riverside.”
Professor Lang shared a similar sentiment, however, she is also excited about the new challenge ahead of her and her husband, Professor Matthew Lang.
Regarding their move to UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), she expressed, “It was a difficult decision to leave UCR. We were very happy there and it was a great place to work. We enjoyed the students and our colleagues. However, I always tell my students they should be looking for new career opportunities, even if they’re happy where they are … Coming to UCR from my previous position at Xavier University was one of the best decisions I ever made professionally, even though I was happy and comfortable at Xavier.”
While a professor of teaching at UCR, Professor Lang conducted research related to housing and property taxes; now she will be continuing this research at UCSB.
For Dr. Corey, housing was a big factor in his move to Duke University. He shared, “My wife, Kaylee gave birth to our daughter Freya. She’s our fourth child and the current house that we were living in in Riverside, California no longer fit our family … In Southern California, it’s pretty expensive to find a house that [is] big enough to fit our family. Coupled with the high interest rates, we just couldn’t afford the bigger house that we need.”
Professor Marcelle Chauvet, the Chair of the UCR Department of Economics, revealed the department made their best efforts to keep all three professors: “We made very good offers for them to stay, but at the end of the day, it’s that personal preference that matters … The three professors of teaching left because they had very good opportunities to go.”
In light of their departures, Dr. Chauvet and the rest of the department were already in the process of hiring new individuals. Dr. Chauvet is the coordinator of the process to hire new faculty.
Explaining the process of hiring a new faculty member, Chauvet said, “The department as a whole, we vote on the needs of the department, and then I bring that need to the dean and the dean approves how many positions we can have … So I set up search committees and then our faculty put ads everywhere and we start[ed] interviewing people … They give seminars, interview with us, we vote [on] a rank, and then we make an offer.”
Once the negotiation stage has been reached, as coordinator, Dr. Chauvet makes an offer to a potential hire. Dr. Chauvet and the department wanted to hire the best possible candidates, but those deals are often expensive and need approval from higher-ups.
“I put their packages together, and I ask the dean if that is okay, and then he approves, or if it is [a] very high salary, then he has to go up to administration to get approval. When you want to hire the best, you have to pay a lot more,” explained Dr. Chauvet.
The department ended up hiring four professors and two visiting assistant professors. Dr. Chauvet is very excited about all of them and the potential of introducing new majors within the department. She shared, “[We hired Professor] Donggyu Kim, his specialties are in finance and machine learning. So we are going to be studying a new major in qualitative economics.”
She also expressed that the pair of visiting assistant professors who were hired are “excellent teachers.” While these professors only have one-year contracts with an option for another year, they might not be around just temporarily. Dr. Chauvet added, “Because they are very good, they are applying for the position as professor of teaching.”
Despite losing three of its professors of teaching, the UCR Department of Economics has a plan to recover. Under the oversight of Chair and Professor Marcelle Chauvet, the department has hired new educators and made moves to overcome the loss. More information regarding the additional hires can be found in the CHASS Faculty Announcement
