Wednesday, September 29, 2004

A Ph.D. is a Ph.D. is a Ph.D. 

I have a new dean. One of his first acts was to require that every adjunct professor receive the same rate of pay regardless of field, even cutting the pay of some who had previously been hired. I mailed him this morning this article, pointed out to me by Skip Sauer.

Published studies conducted at multiple universities, including the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Washington, showed great discrepancies in salaries between departments, some with double the average salary of another department at the same university. ...

Salary increases and averages are overseen by the Committee of Three [at Princeton], another name for the Faculty Advisory Committee on Appointments and Advancements. The group meets twice weekly with President Tilghman to advise her on appointments, promotions and faculty salaries.

Caryl Emerson, a member of the Committee of Three and chair of the Slavic languages and literatures department, declined to comment due to her position on the committee. However, she said she didn't feel the humanities were poorly treated
in regard to relative earnings.

"After all," she said, "we don't make any money for the University."

In contrast, the professors of the science departments are in high demand, not only in academia but also by large pharmaceutical companies and the biotech industry.

Although the University provides a haven for independent laboratory research at the discretion of faculty members, it must still compete with commercial industries.

Science faculty also have the potential to bring in large research grants to the University, increasing both prestige and funding.

Similarly, economics and finance professors are sometimes lured away from the business world.


Of course, we're unionized at SCSU, and our union brothers do not recognize market differentials. While not broken down by departments, university salaries at public schools can be compared here.

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