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I have noticed that college institutions often have so many changes in staffing all the time.
Often it is in very high numbers at a time. There are always new staff, but many only are around for a certain amount of time and then there is always a new influx of staffing.
Especially when it comes to the administrative staffs and non-professor positions, there is always so many high turnover rates.
Does anyone know why college institutions do this?
I think sometimes they just didn't cut it and were let go. My D had a college math class (I don't remember which it was) and the new teacher just didn't know his stuff, very confused and very disorganized, and when told his math answers were wrong he insisted he was right, only to later send out an e-mail apologizing for his ridiculous math problem answer. He only taught that one semester and was gone. My D tuned him out and followed the book and passed the class.
I don't think all new teachers who are let go (as in the example above) but my D's teacher is an example of one that should have been (and probably was). I also think sometimes new teachers may feel, after getting the job, that it's not the path for them.
What? What colleges are you talking about? That hasn't been my experience, and I was in academia for close to 15 years. There may be an exceptional situation here or there in a department where the office supervisor isn't very good, causing new hires to quit. But that's rare. In most academic departments I worked with, turnover was infrequent, or didn't occur at all.
Maybe some of what you were seeing, OP, was student jobs that naturally would change after a couple of years, or entry-level part-time staff positions sometimes filled by students.
I agree with Ruth. That's not universal across most colleges. Many people on the administrative side are at the institutions 10+ years.
The only department I can think of that universally has frequent turnover is housing, because Resident Director type positions are typically seen as entry level stepping stones into student affairs. People will do those jobs right out of undergrad or masters programs then move on. Sometimes they do them while perusing a masters.
The only other time I can think of when there might be huge turnover is when a university gets a new President. That person will often replace the entire top staff and that can have a trickle down effect.
Unless it is a poorly funded and poorly run institution, that is not how higher ed jobs work at all. They are hard to get, and most people stay for many years. Of course, I assume you are not talking about $8 an hour food service jobs or the like, which have a high turnover no matter what.
Edit: Tinawina made a good point. At my Alma Mater the entry level Res Life staff is expected to be gone within three years. so there is a certain number of new hall directors hired every year.
I graduated from college 40 years ago and some of the instructors I had then are still there full time.
Yes, if one is speaking about the teaching staff, most keep their jobs career-long. A few may get hired away to another school, some non-tenured profs won't make the cut, but on the whole, the departments have a stable core of lifers, lol.
And these days, they're hanging on for as long as they can, I notice; some stay until they're 70. I know one prof who's in her 90's now, and is going strong. She bends over backwards for her students, too, helping them find jobs upon graduation--a rare bird, who's very devoted to her students.
Yes, if one is speaking about the teaching staff, most keep their jobs career-long. A few may get hired away to another school, some non-tenured profs won't make the cut, but on the whole, the departments have a stable core of lifers, lol.
And these days, they're hanging on for as long as they can, I notice; some stay until they're 70. I know one prof who's in her 90's now, and is going strong. She bends over backwards for her students, too, helping them find jobs upon graduation--a rare bird, who's very devoted to her students.
Are you talking staff or faculty? Staff, well turnover is turnover and depending on the job, they may have gotten a better offer elsewhere, a spouse got transferred and they moved out of the area, they weren't doing their job and got fired. It's no different than any other industry that way.
Faculty, its rare to see a full professor leave a college or university. Once they have been granted tenure, they aren't going anywhere except in extreme circumstances. For those still working on their PhD's and haven't been on the tenure track, sure, they move around some until they find a good fit for long term employment. I guess I don't see an issue here. Also, often you will have visiting professors on sabbatical from their universities/college guest teaching for a year elsewhere. It's a good way to get variety in your faculty, bring in different course options, etc.
Even non-tenured faculty shouldn't be changing that much.
But as for staff...a lot of them are only intended to be short-term employment. Maybe a few years while their spouse works on a degree, or serves as visiting faculty. A lot of low-level admins are students themselves, and are employed on work-study programs, being employed on a quarterly or semester basis.
You shouldn't be seeing turnover more often than once a term though. If you are seeing more frequent change, then I would be worried about the way the university is being run.
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