AAUP Survey: Professors Leaving Georgia

[Wahoo Redux]

Survey shows more than 25% of Georgia professors plan to leave the state

[lightning]

Between the bulls**t post-tenure review and the continuing slashing of budgets, on top of the cultural baggage of being in the state where enough people think that someone like MTG should hold office, no one should be surprised.

I'm only surprised that the % is not higher, especially since the survey only captures the aspirational desire to leave the state vs. actually having the means and ability to leave the state's academic profession.

[kaysixteen]

I sympathize with their cultural views, but their jobs would eagerly be taken by qualified replacements essentially instantly.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Hmm I seem to remember some posters saying that tenure does not actually matter when it comes to retaining talent...

I sympathize with their cultural views, but their jobs would eagerly be taken by qualified replacements essentially instantly.

It really depends on the field. For people in many humanities fields, there is a massive labor surplus, but not so true in STEM or even some social science fields. In these areas, there are replacements in the ranks, but they are likely to be a notch down in terms of ability.

[Ruralguy]

yes, in many STEM fields it is extremely difficult to find qualified academics, and I think that's regardless of school mission, but might be even more acute at schools such as mine that are purely undergraduate and in a rural location.

[Diogenes]

I read the survey questions closer and it wasn't that many people were actively leaving, or planning to. Just that they'd really like to. And many others are open to the idea of leaving.

So there isn't a big exodus which the headline implies. Just that many are probably going back on the already near futile job market. Their mileage will vary.

So while it doesn't give us information about actual behavior, it certainly gives us a measure of faculty morale there, which is in the gutter.

[lightning]

I sympathize with their cultural views, but their jobs would eagerly be taken by qualified replacements essentially instantly.

. . . many of whom would be willing to work NTT or even adjunct. In my field, the GA university system is unapologetically NOT replacing departing TT professors with faculty in TT lines.

[Hibush]

So there isn't a big exodus which the headline implies. Just that many are probably going back on the already near futile job market. Their mileage will vary.

Faculty in my peer department at UGA are excellent. If my department were about to open a search for something a UGA colleague would fit, I'd be on the phone with said colleague to see whether they'd consider being in the pool. Ditto Florida. I would do so despite being friends with the department chairs. It is a golden opportunity to skim the cream of some departments have have had great resources and really worked to improve their faculty.

[Ruralguy]

Yeah, it will be Georgia's loss. or at least the state system in Georgia's loss, considering that the best may decided to stay in state at places like Emory, depending on personal circumstances.

[Caracal]

I sympathize with their cultural views, but their jobs would eagerly be taken by qualified replacements essentially instantly.

. . . many of whom would be willing to work NTT or even adjunct. In my field, the GA university system is unapologetically NOT replacing departing TT professors with faculty in TT lines.

It's harder to find people with PHDs willing to take adjunct jobs than many people believe, at least outside of the northeast corridor and a few other places.

[Caracal]

I read the survey questions closer and it wasn't that many people were actively leaving, or planning to. Just that they'd really like to. And many others are open to the idea of leaving.

So there isn't a big exodus which the headline implies. Just that many are probably going back on the already near futile job market. Their mileage will vary.

So while it doesn't give us information about actual behavior, it certainly gives us a measure of faculty morale there, which is in the gutter.

Yeah, that's my take too. I believe that morale is low, but to get a sense of what these numbers mean you'd really have to compare it to similar state systems. The nature of the academic job market is that lots of people end up at a place they eventually hope to move on from, either because of money, location, work conditions or some combination of these factors. I would bet that the third of people who've had an interview somewhere else in the last year is similar to what you'd find anywhere. The 65 percent of people who wouldn't recommend the system seems more telling.

It also might not be about how many people leave, but who leaves. As Hibush pointed out, UGA is a pretty solid flagship university with some elite people who definitely can leave if they want to. In the sciences, I'd assume some of these people are bringing in a lot of grant money...

[apl68]

I read the survey questions closer and it wasn't that many people were actively leaving, or planning to. Just that they'd really like to. And many others are open to the idea of leaving.

So there isn't a big exodus which the headline implies. Just that many are probably going back on the already near futile job market. Their mileage will vary.

So while it doesn't give us information about actual behavior, it certainly gives us a measure of faculty morale there, which is in the gutter.

Yeah, that's my take too. I believe that morale is low, but to get a sense of what these numbers mean you'd really have to compare it to similar state systems. The nature of the academic job market is that lots of people end up at a place they eventually hope to move on from, either because of money, location, work conditions or some combination of these factors. I would bet that the third of people who've had an interview somewhere else in the last year is similar to what you'd find anywhere. The 65 percent of people who wouldn't recommend the system seems more telling.

It also might not be about how many people leave, but who leaves. As Hibush pointed out, UGA is a pretty solid flagship university with some elite people who definitely can leave if they want to. In the sciences, I'd assume some of these people are bringing in a lot of grant money...

Wonder what a survey of the baseline level of faculty discontentment at comparable institutions around the nation would reveal?  Discontentment seems to be awfully widespread across most professions anymore, and academics are not the least inclined to gripe about their work conditions.