A recent survey by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) southern conferences found that the majority of 3,000 faculty member respondents were unhappy with the higher education conditions in their state. 

With about 90% of respondents employed by public universities, the survey has significant ramifications for state leaders and residents in the dozen states that were included: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

A startling 60% said that they wouldn’t recommend their state to colleagues. Potentially even more alarming to states that want to stability in their faculty: 28% plan to apply to another state in the coming year.

What are the problems? Here’s what the respondents said: 

• Salary (56%)

• Political climate (53%)

• Academic freedom (50%)

• Tenure (30%)

• Issues connected with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) (30%)

• Shared governance issues (30%)

• LGBTQ+ issues (20%)

• Reproduction/abortion access issues (20%)

• Cost of living (20%)

Following are some of the comments made by faculty members in a section of the survey that invited “open-ended” answers:

“Multiple faculty members at my institution have been doxxed and harassed, including by elected officials. This makes it difficult to do my job, feel safe on campus or at my home and honestly just live my life.” 

 “We are witnessing the collapse of the USA’ ability to lead the world with an increasingly uneducated public, even if they have gone to college. It is very concerning.”

“I have stopped teaching certain texts/topics.”

The survey, which was conducted from August 12 to August 30, also raised concerns about the impact that current higher education conditions had on faculty applications, with 49% saying that their they were aware that their university had seen a decrease in applicants; 44% saying that they were aware of a decline in the quality of applicants and 41% citing their knowledge of  offer refusals.

According to Matthew Boedy, president of the Georgia AAUP conference, the survey results echo findings in a similar survey that was conducted in Georgia, Texas, Florida and North Carolina in 2023.

“I wanted to do this because as a professor in the south, I know many faculty are feeling economic pain and the pain of hearing the attacks on higher education. And many of them have low morale.

“I would hope that policymakers, lawmakers and chancellors of higher education really look at the data in the survey and consider how to make higher education a more desirable place to work. There are responses from all states that should be looked into. I do think that surveys like this are a wakeup call for lawmakers who attack higher education, and don’t defend it from attacks in the public. Those attacks have real impacts and one of the impacts is that faculty are leaving your state.”

#StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalPublicUniversityPerformance #StatePublicUniversities #StateHigherEducation #StateGovernmentHumanResources #StatePublicUniversityHumanResources #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateEquityandDeiPOlicyandManagement #AmericanAssociationUiversityProfessors #PublicUniversityFacultyTurnover #PublicUniversityFacultyLowMorale #AAUP  #AAUPSouthernConference #BandGWeeklyManagementSelection #StateandLocalManagementNews #BarrettandGreeneInc