Academic Workforce Analysis

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Academic Workforce Analysis University of Wyoming
Myron B. Allen VP for Academic Affairs University
of Wyoming allen_at_uwyo.edu
1. UWs budget history 2. Academic
professionals 3. Effects of Central Position
Management 4. Distribution of workforce
pressures 5. Corrective measures
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1. UWs Budget History

• Budgets were flat or declining during the 1990s.
• UWs faculty salaries dropped well below national
  averages.
• As a result, retiring and resigning faculty
  members didnt leave behind enough salary, in
  aggregate, to pay for replacements.

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Flat or declining budgets in the 1990s
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Average faculty salaries, normed by discipline
and rankUW vs. US public doctoral universities
Faculty salaries below market levels
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• The net result was a decline in the number of
  faculty positions.
• Some colleges tried to maintain numbers by hiring
  at lower-than-market salaries a bad idea!
• There is a natural delay low salaries show up
  as hiring shortfalls several years later.

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Permanent Teaching Workforce (Faculty APL),
1996-2003
Net change Faculty -15.5 APL
6.5 Total - 9.0
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Effects of hiring at below-market salaries
We dont do this any more. (Discussed later.)
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2. Academic Professionals

• UW adopted this job category in 1992
• Includes lecturers, research scientists,
  extension educators.
• Created promotion ladders and the possibility of
  long-term careers at UW
• Six-year probationary period with annual
  reappointment reviews.
• Eligible for extended-term contracts (6 years in
  length) after that.
• Explicit requirements for continuing professional
  development.

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• Gives UW an advantage in hiring a type of
  employee common to all doctorate-granting
  universities.
• Lecturers tend to teach more than faculty
  members. They tend to have lower salaries.
• It is still possible to hire APs on a temporary
  basis
• Recent M.S.-level graduates
• Community members with special backgrounds

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Current university-wide balance in permanent
academic workforce
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• In some parts of the curriculum, lecturers are
  appropriate and highly effective.
• English composition
• Introductory science courses
• Some basic health-care courses
• Similarly, in some parts of the curriculum, GAs
  are appropriate and highly effective, and
  teaching experience is an essential part of their
  professional preparation.
• College algebra trigonometry
• Introductory science labs
• Discussion and problem sessions
• Leaves open the question of balance between
  faculty, APs, and GAs in UWs teaching mission.

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Student Credit Hours by Teaching Type, 1996-2003
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3. Effects of Central Position Management

• What is CPM?
• Each year, 40-50 faculty members and APs retire
  and resign, leaving behind 2M - 3M in salary.
• College deans submit requests to fill positions,
  with their own priority rankings.
• Academic Affairs authorizes searches and salaries
  based on these requests.

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• The new positions authorized need not be in
  fields identical to those vacated.
• Its possible to reallocate salary dollars from
  one department or college to another.
• In practice, CPM has significantly changed the
  nature of the positions requested. The effects
  of reallocation across college boundaries have
  been less significant.
• Department heads and deans are aligning their
  requests with UWs areas of distinction.
• Salary requests are consistent with national
  market levels.

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• All money from vacancies goes back into hiring.
• Keeps salary dollars accountably in the pool
  (something not always done at UW).
• Doesnt necessarily preserve the number of
  positions.
• Could increase the number of positions if
  departing faculty salaries were high enough and
  we minimized senior-level hiring.
• Effects of the 1990s budgets led to decreases in
  position numbers until recently.

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Annual workforce changes in CPM

Not including increases in FTE associated with
spousal ramp-ups in AS
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Changes in Permanent Academic Workforce 1998-2003
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4. Distribution of Workforce Pressures

• Few departments can cover their curriculum
  entirely with faculty and AP instructors.
• All departments complain about the difficulty.
• Not all departments have equally significant
  problems.
• Difficulties in workhorse departments ( 4000
  SCH/year) affect the most students
• Other departments have legitimate concerns as
  well.

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Undergraduate Credit Hours
2003-04 Laramie Campus Percent
Teaching by Type of Instructor Workhorse
Departments
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(No Transcript)
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• Departments struggling to staff their classes
  adequately fall into 3 categories
• Departments in key professional fields
• Business (Accounting, Economics Finance)
• Health Sciences (Nursing)
• Education (all departments)
• Departments with pivotal responsibilities for
  core curricular instruction
• English
• Mathematics
• Communication and Journalism
• Other workhorse departments
• Physics Astronomy, Computer Science,
  Kinesiology Health, Modern Classical
  Languages, Statistics

These affect almost all undergraduates
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5. Corrective measures

• 2 categories
• Measures UW can take on its own.
• Measures requiring help from outside.

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• Measures UW can take on its own
• Pay close attention to staffing in all areas of
  UW. Dont spend money on narrowly configured
  positions.
• Cultivate leadership from within, to minimize
  costly hiring of department heads from outside.
• Avoid splitting academic departments into smaller
  units, each requiring hard-to-find leadership.
• Control the scope of the curriculum (not a
  natural instinct of ours).

These measures stretch existing salary dollars
and help reduce pressures on the workforce, but
they arent enough.
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Measures requiring outside help

• Continue working on faculty salary increases,
  especially at senior levels, to increase the CPM
  pool.
• Governors request for 3.5/year raises
• UWs additional request for high-performing
  senior faculty
• Make explicit requests for faculty positions.
• UWs request for 20 positions in critical areas
  (business, education, nursing, core curriculum)

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• Pursue other legislative initiatives that involve
  requests for faculty positions.
• School of Energy Resources (12 senior positions
  other resources, including GAs released time)
• Endowment for Excellence (70M endowment for
  senior positions enough for about 12 fully
  funded positions)
• Teton Institute (12 positions in College of
  Business, in the scenario most likely to be
  funded)

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Questions?
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SPARE SLIDES FOLLOW
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Undergraduate Course
Sections 2003-04
Laramie Campus Percent Teaching
by Type of Instructor (Excluding Supplemental
Faculty)
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(No Transcript)
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Undergraduate Credit Hours
2003-04 Laramie Campus Percent
Teaching by Type of Instructor Small Departments
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1. UWs recent budget history
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Teaching personnel in workhorse departments
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Undergraduate Credit Hours
2003-04 Laramie Campus Percent
Teaching by Type of Instructor Mid-sized
Departments