Even they’re concerned

I know it’s a little old, but I just stumbled across this, from the University of Minnesota student paper, and I think it adds some great perspective to the UW discussion on low professor salaries.

While the University works to become one of the top-three public research universities in the world, current data show its average faculty salaries might not be high enough to achieve that goal.

Data presented Thursday at the Board of Regents Faculty, Staff and Student Affairs Committee rank the University’s average salaries as seventh in a peer group of 11.

“What it boils down to is a university’s ability to attract and retain top faculty,” John Curtis, director of research and public policy for American Association of University Professors said. “If the salaries are not attractive, the faculty members will look elsewhere.”

The average salary for full professors in the University’s peer group ranges from $104,700 at the University of Wisconsin to $142,000 at the University of California-Los Angeles.

The University falls in the middle at $121,270. With associate professors, the University’s rank moves up to fifth.

Curtis said one way an institution can improve its ranking in areas of teaching and research is to invest in faculty salaries and benefits.

It also reminds me of comments made by Biddy Martin about the increasing competition for faculty members.

“I think it’s absolutely essential to keep pace with peers when it comes to salaries,” she noted. “It’s always good to be at the median when that’s possible. I don’t yet know enough about the salary situation here to comment specifically on Wisconsin.

“But what I will say is that we’ve entered a period of extraordinary competition, not only nationally but internationally, for the best faculty. And that’s a result of the fact that there was a hiring bulge in the ’60s, when universities in the United States expanded and that large bulge of people who were hired in the ’60s are now hitting retirement age. So the competition to hire the best faculty over the next 10 to 15 years is going to be extraordinary, and it’s important that a university can be well-positioned to compete for the best minds.”