Oakland was founded on a promise — that young people of southeastern Michigan, particularly those who would be their family’s first college graduates — will have access to a quality education that is on par with schools across the nation. When I was hired at the university 30 years ago, that promise placed faculty at the center—with an exceptional faculty, recruited from the best graduate programs, Oakland could provide students with a first-rate education. Students would be exposed to cutting-edge ideas, hone their intellectual skills, and be more than prepared for life after graduation.

Over the past 20 years, that idea of Oakland has been transformed. The university still aspires to be “the university of choice” for Michigan’s young adults. However, the commitment to place faculty at the center of that mission has eroded.  

This is markedly apparent in the current salary negotiations. For the past five years, our annual raises have been negligible. The average salary of Oakland’s full professors — those most deemed to be the most accomplished members of the faculty — has actually fallen slightly since 2019. The average salary of our assistant professors — those full-time faculty who are just starting their careers — has only gone up 2% in the same time. All faculty have had to face the consequences of inflation that has lowered their earning power by 13% over the past three years.

The national story is much different. Since 2019, the average salaries of faculty have gone up by 10%. Other institutions saw the impact of the Covid epidemic and inflation, and dedicated financial resources to their faculty. Not Oakland. The market for hiring new faculty is not a local one, or a regional one, it is a national market. We must understand our position in this national market.

As national salaries go up while Oakland salaries stagnate, we become less competitive. Our accomplished faculty can be “poached” by other institutions that are willing to offer better salary packages. We have trouble recruiting new faculty because our starting salaries are more than $10,000 less than the national average. Those of us who remain will be left to maintain programs with little hope that this dynamic will change soon.

This is not just a faculty problem. This is a university problem.