Retaining Your Best College Professors: You Worked Hard to Recruit Them; Now How Do You Keep Them?

Faculty recruitment is a major expense for colleges and universities, and schools devote a considerable amount of their resources to the hiring process. But many of these institutions fail to devote the same attention to retaining college professors. We’ve learned through many studies that it’s far less expensive to retain a student you have than to recruit a new one. Why is this lesson not also applied to the college faculty? This book addresses why higher education currently has a faculty retention problem and then explores the strategies needed to address that problem. But now all faculty members are alike. Minority faculty members have their own retention challenges, as do highly competitive researchers, part-time and temporary faculty members who excel at teaching, and other ley groups. The best ways to retain the junior faculty are not necessarily the best ways to retain mid-career and senior faculty. By examining best practices currently in place in higher education, and then combining those insights with research conducted in the corporate world, the book encourages colleges and universities to develop a culture of retention that applies to students and faculty members alike.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Chapter 1. The Faculty Retention Problem Chapter 2. Retaining a Diverse Faculty Chapter 3. Best Practices in Onboarding and Orientation Chapter 4. Providing Support at Critical Points Chapter 5. Promoting Faculty Engagement Chapter 6. Part-Time Faculty, Adjuncts, and Full-Time Temps Chapter 7. Creating a Culture of Hiring and Retaining the Best About the Author Other Books by Jeffrey L. Buller More About ATLAS

About the Author :
Jeffrey L. Buller is a senior partner in ATLAS: Academic Training, Leadership, and Assessment Services. The author of more than twenty books on academic leadership, Buller works internationally to provide training and development programs to colleges and universities of all kinds.

Review :
Retaining Your Best College Professors is a must-read book for anyone who works in academia. Faculty members' retention has gained more significance lately, and we all need to be on top of it. Administrators who work at colleges and universities should be encouraged to focus on this important topic. I agree with the recommendations of the book and believe that all schools should adopt them. Jeffrey L. Buller succeeds in summarizing what needs to be done clearly and concisely. As in all his other books, he gets to the heart of the matter in an easily understandable manner. As a department chair, graduate program director, and director of a school for thirty-three years, I cannot agree more with Jeffrey’s Buller’s assessment of the importance of retaining your best and most competent faculty. The strategies Buller describes in this book will go far in accomplishing this goal. Retaining you best college professors is, indeed, a challenge that all administrators in academia face, and it is becoming more difficult every day to retain the best of the best. Jeff Buller is the academic leadership guru extraordinaire. His numerous writings have guided and inspired scores of educators. In his latest offering he puts his finger on what is perhaps the greatest nightmare of many college administrators: the departure of their top professors. With clear examples and actionable insights he demonstrates how faculty retention is an ongoing process, starting on day one of a faculty member’s employment and continuing throughout their career. Moreover, many key steps can be implemented without much institutional change or financial investment. The lessons from this book can be put in practice immediately and will be invaluable to any department chair or college dean. In Retaining Your Best College Professors, Jeffrey Buller once again proves why he is one of the foremost authorities in higher education leadership. Drawing comparisons to student-based retention initiatives, Buller makes an undeniable case that retaining the best faculty members requires a shift in overall organizational thinking, training, and culture, which must be supported by all levels of leadership. As a department chair, I fully endorse Buller’s foundational principles and related strategies. This is definitely a must-read for anyone in higher education. The time has come for a renewed focus on faculty retention, and this book provides several relevant considerations for academic leaders seeking to take immediate action.