For Richer, for Poorer

Abstract

48. Hill, M. D. Variations in Job Satisfaction among Education Faculty in Unionized and Nonunionized Institutions in Pennsylvania. Journal of Collective Negotiations in Public Sector, 11 (1982), 165-80. 49. -----. A Theoretical Analysis of Faculty Job Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction. Educational Research Quarterly, 10 (1986/87), 36-44. 50. Hines, E. R. Higher Education and State Governments: Renewed Partnership, Cooperation, or Competition? ASHE-ERIC Education Report, no. 4. Washington, D.C.: George The great public universities reflect investment citizens made in building commonwealth's educational and scientific infrastructure |61~. In many states, facilities and courses been cut, and students been crowded out of classes.... Master teachers are being paid -- bribed is word that comes to mind -- to retire early simply because university needs their salaries. Programs that took 20 years to build are dissolving; some of best, most respected administrators and teachers gone elsewhere. Budget cuts stripped university bare, leaving it without money to keep up a decent research library, without money for building programs. Morale -- of students and faculty members -- is low |21~. This article presents a case study of faculty morale and employment issues at an American public research university that has experienced an extended period of fiscal austerity. It sheds new light on how faculty compensation, job satisfaction, morale, and institutional commitment are influenced by changing institutional funding patterns -- patterns which reflect widening gap between rich and poor segments of American society characterizing 1980s and 1990s |20, 80~. These gaps are intensifying what Barbara Scott |93~ has called the new academic stratification system. Fiscal Strains in American Public Education As United States entered last decade of twentieth century, much of American public higher education was facing profound economic uncertainty and financial retrenchment, forcing many institutions to eliminate academic programs and reduce academic personnel |4, 5~. This phenomenon is an outgrowth of state governments that are undergoing severe fiscal strains due to volatile nature of national economy |39, 42, 50, 51~. Recent stories in Chronicle of Education observe that over half states faced serious financial deficits in 1990-91 and 1991-92 fiscal years and been forced to cut overall appropriations for public higher education |11, 17, 54, 72~. While some states experienced moderate financial growth in their higher education budgets during 1980s, others saw periods of sharp decline in allocation of public resources, particularly for their academic institutions. In these latter states, additional cuts in public resources during 1990s will significantly affect core programs in academic institutions which few financial reserves to absorb further budget reductions. One type of academic institution that has been particularly affected by changes in public higher education funding patterns is public research university |93, 95, 98~. Because state governments historically been largest single source of revenue for public academic institutions, decreases in state funding forced public research universities to raise increased shares of their resources through grants and contracts from corporations, other private funding agencies, and federal government. This has resulted in a checkerboard funding pattern within institutions for various academic disciplines. While fields like business and physical sciences often been able to obtain alternative funding for research, many fields within humanities, social sciences, education, and human services been largely dependent upon states' shrinking general funds. State economic development initiatives and private sector demands for increased research and development assistance are further widening gulf between and have not disciplines in American public research universities |6, 96, 97~. …