About a dozen years ago when I was a student at a state school the faculty had a very cushy contract. They had to teach four classes (usually 50 minutes three times a week) and have five office hours per week. That is less than 17 hours per week. Unlike most academic communities, there was no ‘publish or perish.’ Virtually every full-time professor who worked there for five years was offerred tenure. Once a professor had been teaching for a few years and had their lesson plans. 17 hours a week isn’t too bad of a gig if you ask me.

As the costs of education have risen lately, even the professors at the state institutions are facing pressure to publish, especially the newer ones. What’s interesting, is that as the publish, they gain some credibility in the field and suddenly the can go to a private university that offers them significantly more money to start and then additional incentives for publication. It’s really an interesting situation. They publish, they become more marketable and then they can move on. I’m not trying to interject my values on it, just sharing my observations.