some notes on faculty attrition

Date: Apr 17, 2004

some notes on faculty attrition

Date: Apr 17, 2004

Check with Mass Comm, as I was told that the guy who interviewed for my position (and I understand that he was going to be offered the position) emailed them that he could not work at Southern due to the mess created by HRH, SFT!

Date: Apr 18, 2004

FS Readers:

Notice that two (2) psych professors just got added to the leaving list. That department is starting to get thin.

Date: Apr 19, 2004

Just musing... The administration has repeatedly cited lack of pay raises as the reason for the rising faculty attrition. I'm sure this rationalization will be trotted out again soon.

What's the come-back to that argument?

<DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>
How do we know that faculty are leaving because of the "campus climate" & not simply because there hasn't been a general pay raise in a bunch of years?
</DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>

Date: Apr 19, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"Just musing... The administration has repeatedly cited lack of pay raises as the reason for the rising faculty attrition. I'm sure this rationalization will be trotted out again soon.

What's the come-back to that argument?

<DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>How do we know that faculty are leaving because of the "campus climate" & not simply because there hasn't been a general pay raise in a bunch of years?</DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>"

The lack of raises is system wide. Faculty losses at USM last year after reorganization and Thames' first year were 50% higher than at State or Ole Miss. Our drop in freshmen was the highest in the system, three times greater than number two (MSU= -79), and one of the highest in our history (-248). Clearly our leadership has run us aground.

Date: Apr 19, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"Just musing... The administration has repeatedly cited lack of pay raises as the reason for the rising faculty attrition. I'm sure this rationalization will be trotted out again soon. What's the come-back to that argument? <DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>How do we know that faculty are leaving because of the "campus climate" & not simply because there hasn't been a general pay raise in a bunch of years?</DEVIL'S ADVOCATE>"

Doesn't take a statistician to see that there is an interaction effect and it is frightening!

Date: Apr 19, 2004

Have you all seen the article in H'burg American? Now Mader is saying that faculty vacancies are due to the decrease in enrollment. Am I missing something?

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/20040419/localnews/258132.html

Date: Apr 19, 2004

Sorry MBAgal, I guess you were a step ahead of me. We just linked the same article.

Date: Apr 19, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: usmstudent
"Have you all seen the article in H'burg American? Now Mader is saying that faculty vacancies are due to the decrease in enrollment. Am I missing something? http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/20040419/localnews/258132.html "

From Darth Mader herself:

"Part of the number of openings stems from positions that were not filled in prior years, said Lisa Mader, spokeswoman for the university.

"The vacancies could have been caused by financial or budgetary reasons, a lower number of students in a specific program or perhaps an extended search for a quality person," Mader said."

Or perhaps they could've been caused by threats of an imminent asteroid crash or aliens invading Forrest County!!

Conspiracy theories abound...