- Administrative
performance
“If
I could, I would make the administrators realize that their role is
to serve as facilitators instead of as dictators.”
“Administrators
that don't have the guts to treat all academic units and faculty fairly
and put resources including pay increases where they should be going.
Administrators should quit sitting around creating red tape that the
faculty has to deal with when they want and should be teaching. This
list could go on and on.”
“The
top-down type of administration. People are generally happier if
they feel that they have some control over their lives, including
many of the aspects of their jobs. Administrators who truly listen
to faculty input and not just say they do are sorely needed.”
“I
would like Purdue to aggressively consider what administrative functions
could be moved out of faculty hands and be accomplished more efficiently
in a centralized fashion.”
- Salaries
“Competitive
salaries. We don't do too badly on averages, but on the high-end salaries,
or salaries in key disciplines, we do very poorly. Our best faculty
members are often lured away by significant salary increases.”
“We
have been receiving basically cost-of-living increases now for as
long as I have been here. Faculty salaries should be increased.”
“Provide
12 month salary for faculty who are trying to build a world-class
research area, but are on academic year support. Hard to do on an
academic year salary.”
“Faculty
salaries have fallen way behind those at peer institution. Tap into
the endowment if necessary to remedy this now.”
- The
location
“Move
it to the west coast.”
“Move
it to a suburb of Chicago! I'm partly serious. Geographical location
is not the best. Climate is not terrific either. It's the land of
married people, and it's quite horrible for single faculty in terms
of meeting people.”
“Move
it to tropics.”
“Move
it up by Lake Michigan.... seriously, have bike/walking/running paths...have
ice rinks...outdoor recreation!! Real stuff...not some little 0.5
mile trail.”
- Conservatism
“Become
less conservative!”
“The
incredibly conservative nature of the University and community.”
“I
would like to see more open-mindedness, more awareness of the world
beyond Indiana, more bold initiatives, and more creativity.”
“We
must move on to the next level. Purdue is a great institution -except
for a few individuals- but it is also extremely conservative. Conservatism
in this rapidly evolving era will put us behind sooner than we think.
Our faculty, staff and students should be trained to accept and adapt
to the changing science and society.”
- The
bureaucracy
“Its
over bureaucratization. The micromanagement from the vice president
through the deans to the department heads. The feudalism of its schools
and departments.”
“The
strong hierarchical structure of the university. I'd like to make
it more participative where things don't come down to you, but you
actually have a say in decisions –like electing a dept head, or establishing
the policies in the dept. I'd like the institution to actually connect
its discourse with its actions...it's very frustrating to hear constantly
that we are a research institution and then find all your attempts
at conducting research hindered by bureaucracy from lack of space
to 'we've never done it this way before.' "
“Red
tape, and it seems to increase almost every day. Top down philosophy
is becoming overbearing.”
“Reduce
the bureaucracy/red tape and the slowness with which change can occur.
Increase flexibility and be more open-minded to new ways of tackling
our responsibilities.”
- The
infrastructure
“Better
research infrastructure, better labs and offices.”
“Quality
of building, both labs, office, and seminar and teaching rooms.”
“Infrastructure
is terrible, especially with respect to air-handling systems which
are very noisy and ineffective for modern research labs. Plumbing,
gas lines, and electrical are also inadequate.”
- Level
of support for Schools of Liberal Arts and Education
“That
the central administration allots more resources to the humanities units
in the university. I once heard a vice president of the University refer
to such units as "non-productive" because they did not bring
in research monies and because their research had no commercial viability.
And it is these units in particular that are suffering from problems
in faculty recruitment and retention.”
“I'm
tired of being poor. The School of Education is drastically under
funded by central administration… This leads to many problems with
equipment and S&E. Our salaries are low compared to other institutions,
which makes faculty recruitment difficult.”
“Make
it more of a real university rather than the engineering dominated
school it is. i.e. it would be great if liberal arts programs on campus
were in the top ten in the country. This would automatically change
the environment of campus and local community.”
“The
lack of institutional support for the School of Liberal Arts is demoralizing.
We are treated as second-class citizens by administrators, faculty
in other schools, and our own students sometimes. Morale is at one
of its all-time lows in my department because of this. Our salaries
are not anywhere near to being competitive with peer institutions,
and even when they are, faculty leave because they tire of being unappreciated.
These issues need to be addressed urgently and substantively if there
is any hope of taking Purdue "to the next level," as we've
heard from President Jischke in recent months. What good will it
do us if we turn out technically trained undergrads who don't know
how to read, write, and think critically? The School of Liberal Arts
is not a useless appendage. It ought to be the cornerstone of an excellent
university education.”
- The
lack of diversity
“I
would like to increase the racial diversity.”
“Cultural
diversity.”
“Need
more racial and ethnic diversity.”
- Funding
levels
“Lack
of funding, in general, in the School of Education--we have no flexibility
to do anything. Every little penny is counted.”
“I
would like more funding for my research and scholarship.”
“Probably
funding.... I think our faculty and administration know how to succeed,
but the funds to do it are just not forthcoming.”
- Dental
plan
“Lack
of dental plan is hurting us when we interview.”
“Dental
Coverage! I have never been on a faculty that does not have dental
coverage as a family benefit. We need to add dental coverage to the
health plans of the university. The escrow approach to predicting
costs of annual major dental/medical procedures and setting this aside
in a pretax "savings" account which cannot be accessed for
other purposes if not used, and does not carry over from one year
to the next, is a terrible alternative!”
“We
need dental coverage.”
- Library
resources
“Double
the number of books and periodicals in the HSSE Library.”
“Better
library.”
“We
desperately need not only a new central library, but also far more
funding for books and academic journals in the humanities.”
- The
quality of undergraduate students
“Better
undergraduate students.”
“The
overall low quality of the undergraduate students at Purdue.”
“Requirements
for undergraduate admission seem rather low. We have lots of great
students, but too many students are marginal. The need to keep enrollment
high is a negative.”
- Support
for spouses
“Approach
to spousal hiring. We need a coherent policy to address the fact that
a high percentage of candidates for positions are partnered with other
academics. As it is now, we have a hit-and-miss policy of cooperation
among departments. I've now seen five or six junior faculty members
leave the school due to spousal job concerns.”
“Lack
of support for dual-career couples. Unless something changes in this
area, we will likely leave Purdue within the next couple years. Living
apart is an unacceptable arrangement for us. Purdue tries to act
as if they want to help dual-career couples, but there is no real
follow-through as far as commitment to hire spouses of Purdue faculty
first over other candidates. Cross-department collaboration on this
issue needs to be fostered through powerful incentive programs for
hiring qualified faculty spouses.”
“My
wife’s experience with the Spousal Relocation Office was not only
frustrating, it was humiliating to her (she has a Ph.D. as well).
She went on to find a position here on her own, but I doubt she will
ever feel an attachment to Purdue based on her early, very negative
experiences. We will likely leave as soon as we can find other positions.
To provide start up packages worth tens of thousands of dollars and
then not pay any attention to this other important detail is very
short-sighted.”
- The
emphasis on teaching
“The
reward in the faculty and recommendation process to those who engage
in the scholarship of teaching, integration and application. Too much
is focused solely on discovery.”
“The
only thing valued in our department is getting external grant money
and publishing. Good teaching and collegiality are not valued at
all.”
“The
de-emphasis on quality teaching.”
“Absolutely
no rewards monetary or otherwise for undergraduate teaching. In fact,
we're criticized if we spend too much time on it.”
- Class
size
“Have
smaller class size.”
“Class
size is way too large and getting larger.”
“I
would put caps on class size, at least in Liberal Arts.”
- Parking
“Parking!
The parking here is amazingly bad, compared to other universities I
have been to. I would be willing to pay MUCH, MUCH more in order to
have a spot close to my building. When I had small infants who were
nursing, I once calculated that I spent 10 hours per week looking for
parking spots and walking to/from them and my office. This is not including
driving time to/from my house. That is an enormous waste of productive
time.”
“Parking,
parking, parking - a daily frustration which truly impedes my research
and wastes a tremendous amount of my time! The hours spent looking
for parking and walking back and forth multiple times daily to the
parking lot because of a lack of research facilities on campus would
be better spent on teaching and research! I am really tired of getting
parking tickets while loading and unloading materials and equipment
- campus police are occasionally but not consistently understanding
about this.”
