The UW System Board of Regents held a meeting Thursday to discuss the recruitment and retention challenges of the academic workforce.
According to UW System Board of Regents president Mark Bradley, the current economic crisis plaguing the nation is hitting home at all UW System schools, which are trying to attract and retain faculty of the highest caliber.
Regents in the meeting said talented and educated people at the doctoral level are being offered higher salaries in careers outside of teaching, a major factor contributing to the decrease in UW System faculty retention rates.
Though colleges across the nation face faculty retention problems, UW System schools have had particular challenges keeping professors, according to Chris Sadler, professor and faculty senate chair at UW-Stevens Point.
Sadler said as a professor of 22 years at UW-Stevens Point, he still makes $10,000 per year less than the average full-time professor at the University of Minnesota and $15,000 less than full-time professors at the University of Illinois.
Members of the board said the financial system for public higher education is at a standstill around the country and it is an issue too large to be handled within the state.
Regents discussed diversity among faculty and said it is essential for yielding research breakthroughs. However, board members said maintaining diversity at UW System schools has been problematic because the system lacks the desirable benefits and competitive salaries to sustain top-notch faculty. At the board meeting last month, regents explicitly stated they did not want faculty salary increases to affect student tuition.
According to Regent Michael Spector, UW System schools require more than a short-term influx of money to recruit the top academic workforce. Spector suggested a new approach including opportunities to work with colleagues and chances for travel to attract faculty members.
Patrick Farrell, UW-Madison provost, proposed solutions toward recruitment and retention, including a substantial merit pay plan, graduate student funding and offering domestic partner benefits.
Farrell said he hopes to show prospective faculty members that, salary aside, the UW System schools are a great place to work.
