WSU Layoffs

[noise]

Interesting. I did not know that - thanks.

At least, that's what I usually hear at the Universities I've worked.

Here is the site: http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/

[drjeff]

Noise is correct. When faculty are recruited to WSU they are expected to run an externally funded research program [[at least in the sciences), and won't get tenure if they are not successful at doing so. At a place like CMU, that's not a reasonable expectation. Not that there's anything at all wrong with a CMU education, but faculty positions at research universities are much harder to come by and are thus much more competitive.

[Ray1936]

Noise is correct. When faculty are recruited to WSU they are expected to run an externally funded research program

Yes. Academic Welfare.

[English]

When faculty are recruited to WSU they are expected to run an externally funded research program [[at least in the sciences), and won't get tenure if they are not successful at doing so.

Increasingly, this is the case across the university, including in my unit.

[mwilbert]

In general, rankings of the undergraduate school and the graduate schools have little to do with each other. Wayne is an urban, mostly commuter, unselective undergraduate program combined with a major research university that draws students from around the world. If it were just the undergraduates, it would be much less important to the city, not that providing a local, relatively affordable education isn't important to lots of local students.

[noise]

In general, rankings of the undergraduate school and the graduate schools have little to do with each other. Wayne is an urban, mostly commuter, unselective undergraduate program combined with a major research university that draws students from around the world. If it were just the undergraduates, it would be much less important to the city, not that providing a local, relatively affordable education isn't important to lots of local students.

A lot of urban state schools are this way due to the very nature of their location and their mission. I've worked at two of the Urban 13 schools and it's simply accepted that as part of their mission to serve their city they're going to have lower retention rates and be less selective with their undergraduates. It's unfortunate that it's viewed as negative by US News rankings and, therefore, the general populous, but I suppose it's understandable. The University of Michigan would look much different if it were located in Detroit.

[mwilbert]

The University of Michigan would look much different if it were located in Detroit.

It might look somewhat different, but it would really depend upon its mission, as you say. You can certainly have an urban public university which isn't focused on serving the local population. Maybe someplace like UCLA. I think Wayne's undergraduate division performs a valuable service, but as has been discussed at length on another thread, it might be desirable if they didn't admit so many students who aren't able to finish their degrees, either by providing better support or by trying to divert people to community colleges for whom that would be more appropriate.

[noise]

It might look somewhat different, but it would really depend upon its mission, as you say. You can certainly have an urban public university which isn't focused on serving the local population. Maybe someplace like UCLA. I think Wayne's undergraduate division performs a valuable service, but as has been discussed at length on another thread, it might be desirable if they didn't admit so many students who aren't able to finish their degrees, either by providing better support or by trying to divert people to community colleges for whom that would be more appropriate.

I agree with you 100%. I understand it's a difficult juggling act, but I'm an outsider to those decisions.

I'm a big advocate of community college. Part of me wishes I'd started out my college career that way. Having worked at one in Wisconsin, their role to their students and their community was much more apparent to me. Or at least much more prominent.

[beachboy]

Yes. Academic Welfare.

Depends on the discipline... I'm faculty in a College of Engineering. Much of my externally funded research is in the form of contracts, where results, milestones, and deliverables are spelled out in detail. If you meet your milestones and produce the results you claimed, you get paid. Otherwise, bye-bye $$$. It's competitive and very stressful. There are reasonable expectations associated with faculty status: funded research, publication [[books and refereed journal/conference papers), teaching [[high student evaluation scores are important), professional service, university service, government service, consulting, and so on ... not the vacation some might expect. Most of this work is not ordinarily visible, so people [[reasonably) don't think of it. Maybe it looks like we have a luxe life ... NOT!

But I give thanks every day, b/c I still have a job.

Looking at the larger picture, .edu is shrinking. Think about demographics - the Boomers are long gone from America's campuses, the Boomlet [[kids of Boomers) are graduating, so demand for general college degrees is deflating [[although a few specialties are holding their own). The Great Recession reduced people's ability to finance a college education. State subsidies have been slashed to balance budgets given decreased taxes due to lower business activity and the atrophy of our industrial sector. Tuition increases are small when amortized over the past several years. Where's the funding to come from?

So cuts are being made to balance budgets. Most of us pull in our purse strings when times get tough. This is not the sound of a bubble bursting ... or capitalism's death rattle ... more like a big balloon letting out some air.