Faculty retention a complex issue

In the three months I have been at IU, there has been much said and written about faculty departures and low faculty morale. The departure of some faculty each year to other institutions is a commonplace reality at all research universities. One has only to glance at the gossip column of the "Chronicle of Higher Education" to get a glimpse of the high stakes bidding that goes on for the best minds in the country. People should resist the temptation to use these departures to advance their own political agendas. I would like to put some perspective on faculty departures.\nProfessors are, after all, humans, and why a particular faculty member leaves one institution for another is often very complex. In some cases the reason is completely personal: not liking the town, job opportunity for partner, etc. In some cases it is money, although it is seldom money alone. A professor who finds the work environment very supportive and stimulating, but wants to leave because his or her salary has not kept up with her "market value," generally responds positively to a monetary counteroffer. In other cases, it is professional advancement -- going to a better (larger or more prestigious) department or research group. There are yet other cases, in which interpersonal conflicts or the lack of a collegial, supportive environment within a department contributes to a professor's departure. It is important to remember that across the College of Arts and Sciences (and the Bloomington campus), we have both departures and new arrivals of professors for a combination of such reasons. \nMultiple departures of senior faculty from a single department (as in chemistry) are highly unusual, and call for a deeper analysis than merely blaming outside forces. As a step in this direction, we are presently conducting an external review of the department. We also successfully retain a great many of our best faculty who receive outside offers, proving IU continues to be a great place for teaching and learning for students and scholars alike. For instance, we have hired away a faculty member from Berkeley recently, and convinced others to stay here instead of going to Duke or Chicago. \nThe issue of faculty morale is equally complex. Those who have tracked faculty attitudes across the country have concluded there has been a general decline in faculty morale at research universities over the past 15 years. This is partly because of the increased scrutiny of the professorate -- from workload issues (miscast usually as teaching vs. research) to the relevance of certain types of research. This is also partly because of the perception on the part of some that more and more students entering large public universities are not well prepared for college-level studies. \nSuccessive years of low "merit" salary increments certainly contribute to low faculty morale. For many years now, the College has placed higher priority on maintaining the size of the faculty (in the face of declining enrollments) over addressing the salary disparity between our faculty and those at our peer institutions. Clearly, this must change. At the same time, we need to press the case to the state of Indiana that it should increase its investment in its research universities in order not to fall further behind in its future economic competitiveness. \nFinally, oversimplified analysis of complex issues facing the College of Arts and Sciences and, to some extent, higher education in Indiana in general -- as exemplified by recent IDS editorials -- certainly don't do anything to reverse the negative ambiance of the campus. My cup is half-full. How about yours?