Spring Break
UW-system faculty wages can't compete
Sam Schuna
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: Opinion
Let me first say that when it comes to economics, politics and money in general, I’m not the brightest bulb in the box (sometimes I even have trouble balancing my own checkbook). But an important issue, that I think needs to be brought to our attention, is greatly affecting our entire University of Wisconsin system and is percolating to the top of legislative debate. This problem concerns not only accessibility of faculty wages, but more specifically how incredibly low the wages themselves are.
For about ten years the annual wages of UW-system staff and faculty have been posted online for anyone to see as general information. Recently, though, the information was taken off the Web because UW officials reasoned that the information could be used by rival university systems to dissuade applicants from working with them. However, this is actually a moot point of justification, since Bruce Shepard of the greenbaypressgazette.com tells us the information is still open to the public through university system computers and libraries. And even if someone didn’t live near the UW-system, they could purchase a copy of the information for $10 if they wanted it on a compact disc. So why delete this information from cyberspace? Perhaps to cover up a bigger, even more embarrassing problem: that professors at UW-System four-year universities and public universities are paid drastically lower wages than those employed at Wisconsin’s higher quality technical schools, and consequently, the professors are going from public UW-system universities to the UW-system technical schools. This is not a recent problem, either; it has actually been going on for years. Hundreds of highly-trained and extremely talented professors already have left the UW-system campuses in exchange for better-paying jobs elsewhere.
As a design student at UW-Stout, I remember taking Design Theory and Methods with an extremely knowledgeable and passionate professor, Adam Wells, who was primarily an Industrial Design professor. He was a strict grader, but was well liked by almost every student I know, and he knew what he was talking about. I learned a lot more about good design from him than many other professors I have taken, but guess what? I didn’t get the opportunity to take any further classes with him because soon after I had his class he left for a position with a higher salary. Even now, there are constantly reoccurring seminars and open presentations to interview candidates for open art and design positions needing to be filled. Some professors don’t even stay on a full year before leaving for more advantageous opportunities.
It’s not just art students, either. According to Kawanza Newson of jsonline.com, at UW-Madison, biomedical scientists are more preoccupied with writing grants to pay funds and salaries needed to continue research instead of actually doing research. This low funding has dwindled the average age of a scientist from getting his first grant at 34 to 41. The scientists and administrators have time and time again asked for more funding and increased salaries, but to no avail. This hasn’t stopped the scientists from uncovering research and data that could generate new treatments and cures for various diseases down the road, but without the money to continue funding the work it’s only a matter of time before the experiments get shut down.This is especially a shame, as UW-Madison is so privileged in being one of the only universities in the Midwest region to be allowed to participate in stem cell research. But if the powers that be continue to restrict funding, what’s the point?
The UW-system has long had a reputation for being host to a variety of well-qualified and highly ranked professionals in their field, so why can’t we pay them what they deserve?
For about ten years the annual wages of UW-system staff and faculty have been posted online for anyone to see as general information. Recently, though, the information was taken off the Web because UW officials reasoned that the information could be used by rival university systems to dissuade applicants from working with them. However, this is actually a moot point of justification, since Bruce Shepard of the greenbaypressgazette.com tells us the information is still open to the public through university system computers and libraries. And even if someone didn’t live near the UW-system, they could purchase a copy of the information for $10 if they wanted it on a compact disc. So why delete this information from cyberspace? Perhaps to cover up a bigger, even more embarrassing problem: that professors at UW-System four-year universities and public universities are paid drastically lower wages than those employed at Wisconsin’s higher quality technical schools, and consequently, the professors are going from public UW-system universities to the UW-system technical schools. This is not a recent problem, either; it has actually been going on for years. Hundreds of highly-trained and extremely talented professors already have left the UW-system campuses in exchange for better-paying jobs elsewhere.
As a design student at UW-Stout, I remember taking Design Theory and Methods with an extremely knowledgeable and passionate professor, Adam Wells, who was primarily an Industrial Design professor. He was a strict grader, but was well liked by almost every student I know, and he knew what he was talking about. I learned a lot more about good design from him than many other professors I have taken, but guess what? I didn’t get the opportunity to take any further classes with him because soon after I had his class he left for a position with a higher salary. Even now, there are constantly reoccurring seminars and open presentations to interview candidates for open art and design positions needing to be filled. Some professors don’t even stay on a full year before leaving for more advantageous opportunities.
It’s not just art students, either. According to Kawanza Newson of jsonline.com, at UW-Madison, biomedical scientists are more preoccupied with writing grants to pay funds and salaries needed to continue research instead of actually doing research. This low funding has dwindled the average age of a scientist from getting his first grant at 34 to 41. The scientists and administrators have time and time again asked for more funding and increased salaries, but to no avail. This hasn’t stopped the scientists from uncovering research and data that could generate new treatments and cures for various diseases down the road, but without the money to continue funding the work it’s only a matter of time before the experiments get shut down.This is especially a shame, as UW-Madison is so privileged in being one of the only universities in the Midwest region to be allowed to participate in stem cell research. But if the powers that be continue to restrict funding, what’s the point?
The UW-system has long had a reputation for being host to a variety of well-qualified and highly ranked professionals in their field, so why can’t we pay them what they deserve?
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