<p>AP article on a disturbing trend at the University of Wisconsin - It's not just Harvard and Stanford anymore - public universities (Pitt, Rutgers, as well as major public universities such as Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and Indiana) looking for top academics are "faculty poachers". Administrators at this top ranked university are worried about the school's quality and ability to draw research dollars. Hardest hit are departments such as political science, English and history.</p>
<p>
[quote]
...Dozens of professors have left in the past two years, and Chancellor John Wiley said a growing number are going to schools that traditionally could not compete with the state's flagship university. More than 115 professors reported receiving outside offers last year...</p>
<p>In response, lawmakers are expected to consider Gov. Jim Doyle's plan on Tuesday to create a $10 million fund to retain faculty at Madison and other campuses in the UW system. UW-Madison is lobbying hard for the plan...
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/05/ap3787716.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/05/ap3787716.html</a></p>
<p>All the publics have lost some good people over the recent few years due to tough budgets. The fact that only a couple of dozen left out of 120 or so that had better offers shows that most have faith that the state will bounce back and fund the better salaries they deserve. Luckily the three depts named attract very little research funding and are areas with many good candidates looking for tenure track jobs at major schools.
These stories have been released by the UW itself to help in the political fight for the new budget. A little crying around this time of year is often used to help get the $$$ they need.</p>
<p>OTOH the campus itself is flush with building projects--especially in the important research funding generating sciences and medical programs.</p>
<p><a href="http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/11/27/focus1.html%5B/url%5D">http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/11/27/focus1.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the billion-dollar building boom article on the dynamic master plan for the campus. Re-build it and they will come.</p>
<p>On the subject of the political fight for funds and the faculty brain drain AP article, here is an excerpt and link to a piece in the UW Badger "UW must strive to preserve academic reputation" from May, 2007 by Donald Downs political science professor at UW-Madison: </p>
<p>
[quote]
News is getting around the country that social science and humanities departments at Wisconsin are bleeding, increasing the incentive of other institutions to poach. Meanwhile, we ask for more money from the Legislature, but we have not succeeded yet in the difficult task of building trust with that institution, ... When I arrived at Madison in 1985, a leading journal had just published the findings of a survey of 50,000 professors across the land. When asked which institutions of higher learning in America had done the most in the 20th century to push the frontiers of knowledge, this group placed the University of Wisconsin in the top four. We have always been renowned for our scholarly prowess and robust discourse. Let us hope that we can keep it that way...
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/05/07/uw_must_strive_to_pr.php%5B/url%5D">http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/05/07/uw_must_strive_to_pr.php</a></p>
<p>They have hired two associate profs and one asst from Harvard (all coming in with tenure) to fill some of the Poli Sci slots. I expect the funding increases to be approved pretty much as proposed. I think many social science profs feel slighted by all the investment going into the sciences which are still gaining faculty and losing nobody as well as getting new buildings every year.</p>
<p>Update--faculty retention fund passes key vote</p>
<p><a href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/13854%5B/url%5D">http://www.news.wisc.edu/13854</a></p>
<p>Michigan is like Wisconsin--it will scream loudly about these kinds of things, but when push comes to shove it has the resources to weather this. It has very high demand for its education at all levels (like Wisconsin) and gets loads of outside funding.</p>
<p>This kind of thing is a lot more devastating to the lesser public U's in the state, the ones that are more regional.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I hear that Wisconsin is expecting a booming class this year, even more so than Michigan is. People are clamoring to be badgers and wolverines.</p>