When faculty members are reasonably well paid and fairly happy with their work situation, they tend to stay where they are. Inertia favors not moving. If pay gets too far behind, or the day to day work situation gets unpleasant, they tend to start looking for other options. The number of people who leave in a year is largely a function of the number who are looking. Right now many people at USM are looking. Highly talented people or people in tight fields are the most likely to find something attractive. The secret to faculty retention is to keep the number looking as low as possible.

Normal attrition for USM tends to be about 50-60 faculty a year including retirements. That was the range for State and Ole Miss last year. USM was close to 100. Given the low pay and the administration's style, we are very vulnerable to high attrition.

Retirement is also affected by pay and morale. Somewhere around 30-31 years a person eligible for Social Security can take home as much retired as working. With no raises you can't change your four best years. There's not much financial incentive to stay. If you are not enjoying your work, you quit.

In the face of stagnant pay our only hope is a caring and supportive administration. Even with a sudden turn around in salaries and administration, it would take many years to recover from the past two years.