Though I can see why you might agree with the article’s explanation, I’m not sure you can make that inference, @Zinhead . James Prescott Joule discovered a lot of areas where further research was needed, but he also made professors whose expertise lay in caloric theory redundant. New discoveries don’t always mean greater demands on staff. Responsibilities like Title IX mean more administrators. Why have private colleges hired more administrators than publics? Because they can afford it, and hiring a second Title IX expert doesn’t have to mean firing a librarian or a janitor.
It’s also worth noting that most college professors aren’t performing high-level research. Sure, at top 50 schools, and much of the top 100, and some CTCL, you’ll find professors working on research. A local directional mostly needs to keep pace with enrollment, no matter what’s happening at NASA or CERN.