<p>The problem is that it is probably not possible to increase the size of the faculty much in time for next fall. Maybe the bad job market in humanities makes it a special case, but in most fields faculty hiring mostly occurs on a schedule where interviews happen during the spring semester–or winter and spring quarters–for positions starting the next fall. Since a lot of people are traveling during the summer, and thus not around to meet with candidates, hiring over the summer is rarely done. One would especially not want to rush filling tenure track positions.</p>
<p>Maybe they should do what airlines do when they overbook flights—offer volunteers a year of free tuition and housing priority if they will take a gap year.</p>