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[mdwlark]

According to poliscijobrumors.com, UCSD is now rescinding any offers that were extended without signed contracts. Apparently this is true across the board in all departments. What a terrible situation.  Best wishes to any affected candidates.

I looked at the job posting in my department at UCSD and decided not to apply.  I don't have to be disappointed, except in myself for being chicken, which is something larks don't want to be.  Sorry for those of you who at least made the effort.  This whole year is really scary. 

[born2late]

How many places have invoked a hiring freeze, only to go on to spend money on fluff and nonsense?

[tenured_feminist]

How many places have invoked a hiring freeze, only to go on to spend money on fluff and nonsense?

What, you think my blood pressure isn't high enough so I should think about this?

-- soon to be the proud "owner" of a new business school

[polly_mer]

How many places have invoked a hiring freeze, only to go on to spend money on fluff and nonsense?

Using my crystal ball, I guess a good 90% of the places that invoked a hiring freeze then wasted good money on fluff and nonsense.  As was explained to me, any particular instance of fluff and nonsense is not a recurring expense while a new hire will hang around as a drain on the coffers for years and possibly decades.  On the other hand, if a school doesn't spend all of this year's budget, the state may decide that the school doesn't need the same level of funding for next year.  Consequently, it is sound financial planning to spend money on fluff after canceling job searches. 

[aandsdean]

How many places have invoked a hiring freeze, only to go on to spend money on fluff and nonsense?

Using my crystal ball, I guess a good 90% of the places that invoked a hiring freeze then wasted good money on fluff and nonsense.  As was explained to me, any particular instance of fluff and nonsense is not a recurring expense while a new hire will hang around as a drain on the coffers for years and possibly decades.  On the other hand, if a school doesn't spend all of this year's budget, the state may decide that the school doesn't need the same level of funding for next year.  Consequently, it is sound financial planning to spend money on fluff after canceling job searches. 

This is sad, but it's also true.  It's an issue of the way fiscal years and audits work.  At state institutions (at least the ones with which I have experience), any money left on June 30 just goes back to the state.  There's absolutely no incentive not to spend it.  The only reward for fiscal prudence was the June spree.

We used to keep a list of things to do with "year-end" money, and on about June 10 we'd begin a mad scramble to buy things.  My department office had a 10-year supply of toner cartridges, for example.  A lot of this money came from things like mid-year resignations, unexpected additional revenue (new students for the spring semester over the budgeted number, extra retention, contracts coming in below cost, etc.). 

It is definitely true, too, that if you don't spend up to your budget the state may decide you don't need so much money next year. 

I understand why you need fiscal years, but the way they work doesn't always encourage prudence.  At my current place (private), anything unspent this year goes to budget relief for next year (saving travel money, etc.), and thus there's a much larger reason not to spend your budgets to zero here.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

This is sad, but it's also true.  It's an issue of the way fiscal years and audits work.  At state institutions (at least the ones with which I have experience), any money left on June 30 just goes back to the state.  There's absolutely no incentive not to spend it.

I have to spend thousands in the next few days.  I would far rather stash it somewhere it could help support a lecturer.  Grrrr. - DvF

[secretweapon]

This is sad, but it's also true.  It's an issue of the way fiscal years and audits work.  At state institutions (at least the ones with which I have experience), any money left on June 30 just goes back to the state.  There's absolutely no incentive not to spend it.

I have to spend thousands in the next few days.  I would far rather stash it somewhere it could help support a lecturer.  Grrrr. - DvF

Do you want to book flights for my guest lecture?  I'd be happy to be supported. 

[profxfiles]

This is sad, but it's also true.  It's an issue of the way fiscal years and audits work.  At state institutions (at least the ones with which I have experience), any money left on June 30 just goes back to the state.  There's absolutely no incentive not to spend it.

I have to spend thousands in the next few days.  I would far rather stash it somewhere it could help support a lecturer.  Grrrr. - DvF

I can come give my guaranteed packed-room presentation on the politics of James Bond... where am I flying to?

[polly_mer]

This is sad, but it's also true.  It's an issue of the way fiscal years and audits work.  At state institutions (at least the ones with which I have experience), any money left on June 30 just goes back to the state.  There's absolutely no incentive not to spend it.

I have to spend thousands in the next few days.  I would far rather stash it somewhere it could help support a lecturer.  Grrrr. - DvF

I can come give my guaranteed packed-room presentation on the politics of James Bond... where am I flying to?

Are we bidding?

My list of packed room presentations are:

(1) Explosives in the Movies: Why You Should Be More Frightened Than You Are
(2) Life in the Plastic Age: Why Electric Cars Won't Fix Our Dependence on Fossil Fuels
(3) Batteries, Batteries, Batteries: The Materials Science Behind Why Politicians Can't Keep Their Green Promises
(4) Heat, Weight, and Cars: Why Hydrogen Cannot Save Us From Fossil Fuel Dependencies.
(5) Not Just Bombs: Radioactive Materials in Daily Life

[conjugate]

I think if DvF were going to go that route, he'd support a lecturer for a semester rather than a lecture for an afternoon or an evening.  However, that said, perhaps you could come up with a nice complicated buzzword-filled rationalization for buying gold bullion and saving it to provide funding for a lecturer, thereby managing to skirt the letter of the law about having to spend the money immediately.

If I'm mistaken, however, I'll point out that my lecture on Benford's Law (the anomalous distribution of first digits in some kinds of scientific data) has always been very well-received.

[normative_]

So we're heading into the academic job market of the early 1980s, where the NYTimes covered the MLA (not sure which year) and found there were 8 jobs or something and 4,000 applicants.

And the mid-1990s. That's how I wound up in Europe.

The difference now, though, is that the European economy is also doing poorly and hiring is down, sometimes salaries as well. Especially in Eastern Europe, which was such a source of growth in the last few years.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Sorry, too late: I lost most of the money.

If this happens again I am so buying thousands of dollars worth of chalk. - DvF

[normative_]

So my guess is that tenure-stream faculty salaries will continue to rise, albeit slowly. But not nearly as quickly as teaching loads and course caps.

That's happening here already, outside of the American system. There is strong pressure to increase cash flow through enrolment and commissioned research. So far, our initial enrolment figures for the fall are up about 30% from last year, and we will hire perhaps one adjunct to help out so that the permanent staff can concentrate on hauling in grant money, if there's any to be had. All of the permanent staff are teaching more than they did.

Salaries are rising slowly. It's possible to get a raise, but the bargaining has become extremely tough, and based very closely on what you bring in to the department.

The graduate students will continue to provide both a ready pool of contingent labor at R1s for the tenure-stream faculty and, as they finish their degrees, a classic reserve army of unemployed and underemployed workers. And many more universities will quietly begin offering a dual track education: first class for those who pay top dollar and come full time in the day, and second class for those who pay reduced rates to take more classes online and at night from overworked and undersupervised contingent faculty.

We've found we get the biggest bang for our buck by offering executive master programmes, and the demand is strong from white-collar folks looking to spruce up their competitiveness in this job market (and who now have less to do in the office). Summer schools run second, but have been a flop for us in the current economy. I think it's seen as an unnecessary luxury for that demographic, and they have greater pressure to have a summer job. Pressure on us is up massively on both counts, but I think the executive master programmes will be the big hit.

But...we're also counting on our grad students to be a reservoir of research and teaching assistance for the grants and the larger classes.

[normative_]

How many places have invoked a hiring freeze, only to go on to spend money on fluff and nonsense?

What, you think my blood pressure isn't high enough so I should think about this?

-- soon to be the proud "owner" of a new business school

We've already been assimilated. Or at least, we're in the resistance is futile stage.

Try explaining social sciences to a business major. We've been given marching orders to conduct our research on ways that business will find interesting. We're not business majors.

My tip: "We provide vital information on the business environment. It's never been more important than now." The suits aren't buying yet where I am though.

[pimezon]

Tough one, but hey what did you expect?.. after the biggest state by economy in this country has started issuing IOUs?