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Study: Private institutions pay more, get better profs

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The widening rift between salaries of full professors at public and private universities is causing more professors to move from public to private institutions, according to a University of Illinois researcher.

F. King Alexander, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, found salaries of professors at private institutions in 1998 exceeded those of professors at public institutions by an average of $15,300. In 1980, the difference was only $3,000.

He said because of the rift, larger state universities are losing faculty to private schools such as Tulane and Vanderbilt universities.

"A better public university serves as training ground for private universities," Alexander said. "They are becoming easy picking grounds for private universities."

The study looked at major research I universities (SIU is a research II institute), Alexander said. Although SIUC was not in the study, he compared SIUC to the results he found about UIUC.

"SIUC doesn't pay as well as we do here, and we have done very poorly for the last few years," he said.

Walter Jaehnig, media coordinator for SIUC's faculty association, said he sees where faculty leave institutions of higher learning for better salaries, but said the competition for those jobs is often difficult.

"It's not always that easy for faculty to obtain positions at those institutions," Jaehnig said.

Jaehnig said the University administration has admitted that SIU salaries lag behind those of other institutions, which may affect a professor's decision to remain teaching at SIUC.

Alexander said state funding cuts of universities contributed to the widening gap, and the loss of faculty is something that state legislature does not realize is happening.

The problem is that most state legislatures see the market universities have within the state alone," Alexander said. "They do not see the larger picture that faculty are marketed nationwide."

Jack Parker, dean of the College of Sciences, said that while there is not a lot of competition when hiring new faculty, keeping senior faculty can be difficult when private institutions offer a higher salary.

"This doesn't happen a lot, but when it does, it is very painful because it tends to be among the best faculty," Parker said.

Alexander said to attract strong faculty, public universities will be forced to strengthen nationally-recognized programs and eliminate others that are not as strong.

"They have had to pick and choose which academic disciplines they are going to allow to keep pace with private institutions," Alexander said.

Alexander's research will be published in the Journal of Staff, Program and Organization Development in December.