Despite restricted budgets and little expectation of faculty pay raises, University deans report that less faculty members are choosing to resign than have in recent years.
In the College, no faculty members have resigned this academic year, said Adam Daniel, associate dean and chief of staff.
"We have been able to counter every single danger [of losing faculty] that has sprung up," said Karen Ryan, associate dean for the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Last year, 10 faculty members resigned from the College, which was one-third less than in each of the preceding two years, said College Dean Edward L. Ayers in a statement from the January Arts and Sciences Magazine.
Daniel offered two main reasons for the dearth of faculty departing the College.
"The economy is not very good in general and a lot of other universities are in the same situation as us --- not a lot of jobs are out there," he said. "I would also not want to underestimate the particular appeal of the University and the community that exists here."
An opportunity for a higher salary is not the only reason a faculty member might consider resigning, however, Faculty Senate Chair Michael J. Smith said.
"A [top] faculty member might move because he thinks there are more and better research opportunities for him," Smith said. "In the sciences, he might get a better lab."
Based on calculations, only the Architecture School has had its budget hit harder than the College, Ryan said.
Architecture, however, also has retained every faculty member.
"We haven't had any resignations this year," Architecture School Dean Karen Van Lengen said.
Van Lengen attributed the loyalty of faculty members to the school's exceptional quality.
"In this particular situation, we have a small school and one of the highest rated schools at the University," she said. "If you left, the question would be, where would you go?"
Similarly, the Engineering School has not suffered from any faculty resignations so far this year, Associate Dean for Academics Milton Adams said.
"The vast majority of faculty are reasonably happy here, but they're very unhappy abut the state of salaries," Adams said.
The Nursing School has suffered one faculty resignation this year," Dean Jeanette Lancaster said.
Lancaster was quick to add, though, that the faculty member did not leave the University and merely took a new position at the Medical Center.
Although faculty members are not leaving the University in droves, Ryan said it is a difficult task to prevent mass departures.
"It means going further in the red, which is dangerous," said Ryan, in reference to the augmentation of competitive faculty members' salaries from already meager state funds.
Private funds cannot generally be used to make salary offers, because they are unreliable, she added.
"You hear people saying in public that we are bleeding faculty, and I really want to stress that we have not lost a single faculty member," Ryan said. "It's been a policy of Dean Ayers to be proactive about this."
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