<p>I don't where to post this, but I ran into it today. It is very interesting for anybody who would every consider a career in academia and Grad school. The University of Northern Iowa, one of the 3 state colleges in Iowa, is actually doing a mass layoff of tenured faculty. Programs with under 10 students will face elimination or significant reductions in faculty. Faculty are going nuts condemning the President of the University, but the students are protesting.....for the cuts in the faculty. The students want the Professors cut.</p>
<p>I see some of the student's points. The University of Northern Iowa's Physics department has 12 tenured faculty, and graduates sometimes 2 undergrads a year, which is absurd. I've actually never read anything like this before.</p>
<p>I didn’t see a single thing in that article about tenured faculty being laid off. All it says is that the president plan’s to cut any program which has graduated fewer than 10 students in each of the past 5 years.</p>
<p>State funding for public schools in Iowa are getting cut every year. It’s not just colleges. My old school high school lost $1 mil in their budget recently. Same story with a lot of other schools.</p>
<p>UNI could raise tuition to keep and try to improve their unsuccessful programs at the expensive of the students, or they cut them at the expense of the faculty. Might as well cut them. Look at the UCs</p>
<p>Sorry. It may not have been in the article, but many of the programs in question are primarily tenured faculty. Presently, University of Northern Iowa is planning on giving retirement packages to some of them.</p>
<p>Academia does not seem like the secure job it once was even for tenured Profs.</p>
<p>For those considering grad school and expecting a secure job in academia, I’d reconsider after reading something like this. Academia isn’t what it used to be.</p>
<p>This is sort of true, but this article isn’t really saying much. Departments with very few students graduating have always been at risk of being axed - nothing atypical there. Tenure has never protected someone from being fired along with the rest of the department.</p>
<p>The real problem with academia is the insane level of competition for the jobs. Job security is still incredibly good once tenure is achieved. Just getting there is increasingly difficult.</p>
<p>Dear god; the world doesn’t turn on Iowa - especially with such a small student body and endowment. Certainly academic positions are hard to come by in SOME departments, doesn’t mean anyone interested in a career in academia should just wipe their hands clean and say “forget it!”</p>
<p>Interesting about the faculty vs. student mentality. In Pennsylvania the state schools faced massive budget cuts last year (and again now) and the union and students together really spoke out against it. The result wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but now it’s starting all over again with a new budget year. It’s a bad time for education in general that would only get worse if certain Republican candidates had their way.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a regional state University in Iowa. It is the smallest of three. It must be an aberration right? Nothing to worry about, if I went into academia, it would never happen to me because I’m going to this top grad school…</p>
<p>Let’s look at the Physics faculty. The Physics dept. won’t be totally eliminated, but some Physics programs were eliminated, so there will be layoffs in this department. Below is a list of the faculty and where they went to Grad school. This list includes Profs from Harvard, Columbia, University of Illinois Urbana, Purdue, and Johns Hopkins. These are all great pedigrees and these are tenure track or tenured positions that will be eliminated. </p>
<p>Part of my family lives in Cedar Falls. This is the worst layoff the school has seen in its history. Decades ago, this would have been unheard of. The point is that it is part of a trend in academia that is new.</p>
<p>While I’m sure this is devestating news to folks who perhaps know the faculty, or grew up in the area - there is no way a department that is only producing 2 graduates a year merits a faculty that size. Not every major is going to be represented at every college, nor should it be.</p>
<p>I agree that programs with 2 undergraduates probably needed to be restructured or closed, and that the professors are perhaps being a little naive in thinking that their “belief” are more important to the university than money. It’s a business.</p>
<p>However:</p>
<p>*But, many opponents of the cuts said there are other ways to find the money without cutting academics. Though all auxiliary funds have been mentioned — Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, Maucker Union and the student Health Center — the most mentioned is the Athletic Department.</p>
<p>In fiscal year 2011 the university transferred nearly $7 million, or 4.3 percent, to auxiliary funds. Athletics received about $4.6 million of its $11.5 million budget from the general fund.*</p>
<p>I don’t agree that the performing arts center or the student health center should suffer budget cuts - those are either educational and enriching or essential to student health. But athletics? At a small regional public university? I wonder if their athletics faced any cuts at all.</p>
<p>One of the consistent criticisms of tenure that I’ve read is that if interest in a subject matter significantly decreases over the years and there are far fewer interested students, you’re stuck with a bunch of tenured professors you can’t get rid of.</p>
<p>This University in northern Iowa has no trouble getting rid of its programs and professors that were once useful but aren’t anymore. I think it does sound like the concept of “tenure” is changing.</p>
<p>Where I go to grad school now at Umich engineering, the professors who get tenure and than stop doing research are usually gone within 2 or 3 years. It sounds like there must be some sort of post tenure review that can eventually affect the professors jobs where I’m at.</p>