A lot of extra effort? Maybe, but even the second plan that actually saved the miners was not without drama, fraught with heart-stopping moments and uncertainty. So, why am I starting an article about careers for academics with old news?
The principle of having more than one career plan is critical in these times of economic uncertainty, and the rejection letter, like the layoff notice, can be heart-stopping. Ignoring the possibility of either can prolong or sink your (career) rescue, too.
More than ever now, grad students as well as non-tenured faculty (and even the tenured minority) need to keep a Plan B in mind. The evidence is inescapable.
The Evidence
Louisiana may not be your dream academic destination, but it‘s just one of several state systems of higher education now entering extreme budgetary strain - that many others (state and private) will be joining.
Louisiana newspapers reported that last year’s state budget faced a $108 million shortfall that forced serious cuts in higher education. This year’s budget not only won’t repair the damage, but more and deeper cuts are anticipated in their public higher education institutions.
At Southern University in Baton Rouge, plans made public in July included closing or merging 16 of 88 academic programs. Southern had already taken about $14 million in cuts in the past 2 years and yet another $2.6 million in cuts are expected this year.
Louisiana State University also released plans in July, having absorbed $42 million in cuts over the previous 18 months, and it still expects a possible $46 million cut coming. University plans will cut more than 200 jobs, as well as “scholarships, degree programs, research projects, facility services and more.”
Nearly 240 LSU instructors received termination letters for January, 2011, based on anticipated state budget cuts. But, higher student enrollment than expected allowed an extension for most of those instructors - through May, 2011. However, Latin and German degree programs were eliminated in May, 2010 and courses in four more languages have been cut, with faculty members to be laid off in January – about 24% of the entire Foreign Languages and Literature Department. (Only French and Spanish degree programs were left.)
The LSU Library system took a $17.6 million cut, and the Board of Regents sees it as a “permanent reduction in state funding.” Of course, library resources form the heart (or maybe, the mind), of all research and graduate programs, affecting more than “just the humanities,” as many in the sciences are fond of saying.
As early as March, 2010, The Economist reported on widespread tuition hikes at both private and public universities across the US. California State University (23 campuses) alone had lost $564 million (20%) of its state funding, and announced plans to reduce enrollment by 20,000. (While they didn’t say it, will there be equal faculty “reductions”?)
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that at least 39 states had decreased funding for public colleges and universities (or raised tuition), and cited laid-off staff, closed academic departments and fewer classes being offered.
While each state faces different budget pressures, politics and values, the national trends are more than worrisome. State Higher Education Finance, an annual study by SHEEO (State Higher Education Executive Officers) analyzes state support for all of higher education.
The 2009 (Fiscal Year) SHEF study concludes that the dominant trends in state funding of higher education, including cyclical downturns during economic recessions, is traditionally followed by recovery and growth in years following. However, the recovery phase from the 2001-2 recession, beginning in 2007-8, was abruptly cut off with the 2008 recession. It noted that, while ARRA funding cushioned the impact of the current recession, continued fiscal crises clearly pose a ”severe threat” for the near future of higher education in the land.
What Can You Do?
These small examples are but a fragment of a larger picture that questions the value (indeed the very possibility) of staying in higher education long enough to avoid trying to find a job in a “down” economy.
But the more important question is "What happens if you suddenly are left with no choice?" – your funding is cut, your department is merged with another, or worse, dropped for budgetary reasons. Even tenure cannot save you from that.
What in the world can you do? Most important of all: Be aware that this could happen to you (whether you’re in a private or state-supported school) and begin working on Plans B - and C.
Start thinking about who you are now and who you want to be. What are the parts of your work and life that you most love? If your current situation were to fall apart, how might you salvage at least some of what you love and still manage?
Bottom Line:
Yes, it is true that sometimes we have to give up the work we love doing in favor of paying the rent and buying food, but if we have developed a plan before a crisis hits, we may be able to salvage some of what gives us the “food for thought,” the parts of life that feed our soul. If we’ve never thought about what it is that we most love about academics, we may lose all of it without even trying to save the essence of what matters.
For now, just start working on Plan B.
© Copyright, 2010, Kate Duttro. All rights reserved. Used with Permission.
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Job-Hunt's Academic Job Search expert Kate Duttro is a career strategist, coach, and instigator. She writes the Career Change for Academics Blog, for current and recovering academics, and other smart cookies. For more than 10 years, she has provided career services at the University of Washington, where she has counseled, taught classes and workshops, and dug out information for thousands of undergrads, grad students, post docs and alumni in all phases of career development. Holding several degrees, including a PhD in anthropology, Kate has also earned many professional certifications in the field of career coaching.
