As a potential faculty hire, what should one expect to find in an academic institution’s offer letter?
I only ask because a few junior colleagues have recently asked me to give them my two cents on the matter.
Most specifically, each of these scholars has been negotiating with schools that have decided to send them offer letters without any specific details about “the package” except for the starting salary.
They’ve had conversations (via phone and email) about other items that they’ll be provided (office computer, research and/or travel budgets, moving allowances, etc.), but none of those specifics are in the actual official letter. How common is such a practice? I told them that I thought it was fairly atypical, but there might be folks out there who have a better sense of this practice’s prevalence.
In the instances referenced above, the faculty members have had productive discussions about their needs (and very positive responses to their requests), but they’ve been told that such details will be worked out subsequently. After they sign. I told them that I thought such a move was a little discomforting.
Of course, I’m sure that many institutions are trying to make certain that they don’t bind themselves to promises that become increasingly difficult to keep with each passing month of our economic downturn. Could that be part of the issue?
It doesn’t just seem to be a public vs. private thing, at least not for the folks I know. What is going on?
