For students attending the University, there is often a feeling that their time spent strolling Grounds on the way to classes will never end and the idea of seeking a job seems far away.
Yet for many faculty, to whom the University is also the real world, it is not uncommon to experience annual job turnover.
"People take it as part of life," said College Dean Edward L. Ayers.
For example, the economics department brought in nine new faculty members this semester after losing five. Of these, four professors were brought in on "tenure track" while the remaining five were hired on a temporary basis.
Faculty members leave for a variety of reasons, according to William R. Johnson, an economics professor and former department chairman, including retirement, not being granted tenure or being lured away by better job offers.
"We have some faculty members teaching on a short-term arrangement," Johnson said. "These people are only here for one semester, filling in for faculty members on leave or teaching courses that need to be taught."
Overall, turnover numbers in the College have been fairly constant for the past 10 years, Ayers said.
While large numbers of new faculty members within a department may be confusing and inconvenient, causing student advise changes and course cancellations, there are also some positive sides.
"In one sense it would be nice to have the same people year after year," Johnson said. Yet, "eliminating turnover would signal that we had a faculty no one wants in other places."
Turnover highlights the quality of the University's faculty, Ayers said.
"Keeping faculty turnover to a minimum is part of the job," he said. The University constantly "has to fight off people who want our faculty, but we're holding our own"
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