The increased possibility that some of the University's top scholars may leave their positions to accept offers from other institutions currently is the faculty's biggest concern, Faculty Senate Chairman Robert M. Grainger said.
At today's appearance before the Board of Visitors, Grainger will report that the University may lose faculty as a result of a temporary salary freeze caused by the state's budget crisis, he said yesterday.
He added he fears losing "10 to 20 to 30 of our most precious faculty."
"I worry that students might not choose to come here if word gets out that we are losing faculty, or if our rankings fall," Grainger said.
University Provost Gene D. Block said he shares Grainger's concerns.
"I am very worried about the impact of the budget situation on retaining outstanding faculty," Block said. "Our office is working hard to develop strategies and identify resources to ensure that the University remains strong and vigorous."
The University has few funds to counteract offers from other institutions, Associate Provost for Management Anda Webb said.
"I'm not sure that we have enough funds," Webb said. "The University can only spend interest off an endowment if the money is in unrestricted status, and the University has very little money that is unrestricted," she added.
A few small faculty losses would not make a significant difference to current students, and it would not alter the number or the quality of future students, Grainger said.
However, even small losses in faculty would come at a cost to the University, he said.
"If you lose 10 good faculty, you can find people to replace them," he added. "But it might take as much as 10 or 15 years to reconstruct the hiring decision the school has made."
English Dept. Chairman Michael H. Levenson now is experiencing Grainger's fear firsthand. He said his department, which hired six new faculty members last year, now is in "serious danger of losing our most excellent and renowned people."
Levenson said he could not divulge the names of English department faculty who have been approached by other universities.
The University's freeze on faculty salaries is highly unusual in comparison with other competing universities, Grainger said.
"The faculty here didn't get raises this last year," he said. "But last year, on the national level, was the best year for faculty raises for many schools in about 10 years."
University President John T. Casteen III agreed with Grainger's assessment.
"The largest problem is that Virginia has simply not kept pace with other states," Casteen said.
Grainger emphasized he does not blame the administration for the difficulty in retaining faculty.
"The administration understands this problem, and they are working hard to resolve it. We're all pointing a finger at Richmond," he said.
Faculty losses are especially damaging, he said, because it costs the University more to replace faculty than to raise the salary of current professors.
"My suggestion to the Board is that we find money to give raises to the faculty who have been promoted," Grainger said. "People that just got tenure should get recognized for their promotion."
He also recommended the University start its fundraising campaign as soon as possible, and that the administration work to set aside funds to counteract any offers that faculty may receive from other institutions.
Casteen, however, maintained the University still exercises the ability to retain its faculty in the midst of the recession.
"Now, the Governor and the General Assembly seem sensitive to this issue and remarkably sympathetic with faculty issues. The Board of Visitors has more flexibility, and we have better reserves to deploy to retain faculty whom we are most at risk of losing," Casteen said.
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