<p>@Riversong123:</p>
<p>I wonder if the University of California System’s recent, serious financial concerns (to illustrate, in-state tuition has dramatically increased during the last decade) might not reasonably be expected to adversely impact Berkeley in several other key areas? For example, I recently read that top faculty recruiting has decidedly suffered, as the cost-of-living increases, while comparative faculty compensation decreases.</p>
<p><a href=“UC Application - Message from the system”>UC Application - Message from the system;
This report – issued by the University of California – substantiates this significant problem. On its first page, it emphasizes:
“Compensation for many UC employees is significantly below market. One result of years of declining and inadequate state support is that faculty and staff salaries continue to lag significantly behind market. With the exception of contractual obligations to union-represented employees, salary increases were either eliminated or sharply curtailed from fiscal year 2008-09 through 2010-11. In addition, furloughs for UC faculty and staff in 2009-10 translated to salary cuts that ranged from 4 percent to 10 percent. A 2009 total compensation study showed that cash compensation for many UC employee groups remained lower than comparable positions at competing institutions, significantly so in many cases.”</p>
<p>Were I faced with two excellent options (Berkeley and Duke) I would attempt to look years and decades ahead – after all, this year’s freshmen may well work for until 2065 and live until 2085 – and I would be very concerned by both the immediately and the enduring Implications of inadequate salaries for Berkeley’s faculty and senior staff.</p>