Prof. Janet Vaglia Talks of DePauw Faculty's "Quality-of-Life" in Chronicle of Higher Education

September 28, 2006

September 28, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - "Janet L. Vaglia, an assistant professor of biology at DePauw University, in Indiana, says her level of engagement with her colleagues has been a key factor in how happy she is there," notes the Chronicle of Higher Education. "And Ms. Vaglia was particularly pleased to have a good cohort of professors her age. At her previous institution, she says, the older faculty members were 'distant' and did not communicate with each other."

The story by Piper Fogg, published in the Chronicle's September 29 edition, continues: "If (Vaglia) had the option of a higher salary but it came with more pressure to perform and colleagues who weren't as supportive it would be an easy choice to forgo the money. 'It's a quality-of-life thing,' she says. The nature of the work is also important. At DePauw, she says, teaching is highly supported, and is emphasized more than publishing."

The article examines "a new survey from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, which found that tenure-track faculty members care more about departmental climate, culture, and collegiality than they do about workload, tenure clarity, and compensation... The results suggest that today's young professors differ markedly from previous generations, whose single most important concern was autonomy in the workplace, according to Cathy A. Trower," a Harvard researcher who co-directed the survey.

The complete article, headlined "Young Ph.D.'s Say Collegiality Matters More Than Salary," can be accessed at the Chronicle's Web site (a paid subscription may be required).

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