There is a paradox for people seeking a job as a faculty in a college or university, which is that everybody, by definition, has completed a PhD at a high-research university. However, many of the faculty positions that are available are at both private and public institutions without a PhD program. I checked the eco evo jobs spreadsheet at the time of this post, and about half of the positions in the US and Canada were at schools without a PhD program. I also think many faculty job-seekers have preconceptions about the differences between the institutions that are worth examining. I was faculty at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI), and I am now faculty at a public university with very high research activity (classified as an R1 institution by the Carnegie Foundation), and so I have the somewhat unique experiences of having taught and conducted research at both types of institutions.
My first faculty position was a Georgia Southern University, which is a regional public institution with many Master’s programs, a very few doctoral programs (none in any of the sciences at the time), and lots of undergraduate students. At the time, Georgia Southern was a primarily undergraduate institution, with substantial teaching loads (I taught three classes a semester). My startup funds were generous for the type of institution, but much more limited than for a big research university- I had plenty of money to buy equipment and conduct research, but I couldn’t support a laboratory manager for long or a postdoctoral researcher. Expectations for tenure were matched to the teaching load and research support- I was supposed to publish every year, publish work from research at GSU, and apply for substantial funding.
My current position is at Florida International University, which is a giant (nearly 60K students!), very high research, and public institution in Miami Florida. FIU has lots of doctoral programs, a medical school, and our teaching load is correspondingly modest (I teach one to two courses per semester). My startup funds were low for a big research institution, but still enough to pay for a postdoc and some graduate student support. Expectations for tenure were publishing regularly and bringing in at least one large grant from NSF, NIH, or similar.
What are the similarities or differences between a job at a master’s granting PUI versus an R1 institution? Well, from my perspective, the similarities between the two jobs is most striking. The week is structured by teaching in both jobs, albeit the amount of teaching was greater for me at Georgia Southern. Research was just as important at Georgia Southern as it is at FIU, but the amount of time to do research is less at Georgia Southern. Service was generally similar between the two jobs. I have many friends that are professors across the entire spectrum of institutions of higher educations, and I think the job is largely similar across institutions. And some of the factors that many folks think would be different between a PUI and an R1 differed, at least for me, in the opposite direction that you might pick.
I think because the perceived hierarchy of higher ed has been so engrained in our training, there is an expectation that the more research-intensive school is better somehow. I can tell you that when I was faculty at Georgia Southern, I had a gorgeous office with high ceilings and a giant floor to ceiling window that looked out to a forest. My office at FIU is a hot (HVAC is a challenge in Florida) little cell in a building whose architecture must have been inspired by the Soviet Era brutalist aesthetic. Especially at large but cash-strapped public institutions like FIU, space is always difficult. At Georgia Southern, I shared a new and well-equipped lab with another faculty member who did similar research. At FIU, I share a larger but older lab space with another faculty member who does similar research. Grad students at Georgia Southern had allocated office space, while finding office space for grad students at FIU has been a challenge. In other words, a large research university will not necessarily have better facilities or infrastructure that a PUI.
One other common misconception about working at a PUI versus an R1 institution is that working at a PUI is less stressful or hectic. In fact, I have talked to lots of faculty job seekers (grad students and postdocs) who want a job at a PUI because of this idea. However, I have found that the busyness and stress is the same at both institutions. Before I was tenured at FIU, there was certainly anxiety about landing a big research grant, as well as keeping up research productivity with publications. However, I felt the same amount of stress at Georgia Southern to keep up research productivity despite a substantial teaching load. After all, I still needed to fund my work and have a productive research program, and so I was still writing grant proposals and manuscripts. As mentioned before, I have colleagues and many different types of institutions, and when I was first on the job market, I interviewed at many different types of institutions. From my perspective, the stress about the job is generally the same, regardless of the type of the institution. Probably the biggest driver of stress in any faculty position is your personal inclination towards anxiety or stress and institution-specific factors, regardless of the category of institution as R1 or PUI.
Of course, not all aspects of the job at an R1 or PUI are the same. I get paid a lot better at FIU (probably because we have a faculty union, UFF-FIU), but the cost of living in Miami, Florida is wildly higher than in Statesboro, Georgia. I have found that the capacity for research is certainly greater at FIU, with PhD students, research institutes, and many other resources. Because of time limitations due to the teaching load, either the scope of projects or the amount of time to complete a project were impacted at Georgia Southern. Ironically, I think it is easier to be a good teacher at FIU that Georgia Southern, because you can devote more time to teaching when you are teaching a lot less. To keep up research productivity and not be a workaholic, there was a certain amount of triage that had to take place with teaching at Georgia Southern. It may surprise you to learn that the faculty and leadership at FIU cares about teaching just as much as faculty and leadership at Georgia Southern.
What does this mean for faculty job seekers at PUIs and R1s? Well, I think the most important point is that it is basically the same job regardless of the type of college or university. The good (e.g., you get to set your schedule, you control your teaching and research programs, etc.) and bad (e.g., lack of structure can lead to overworking, faculty interests are not always aligned with institutional leadership, etc) of being a faculty member are largely the same. If you are interested in a job at a PUI because you think it is easier or less stressful, I hate to tell you that I don’t think that is the case. Conversely, if you have trepidations about landing an R1 job because it seems too busy or stressful, I can tell you that I have not found it more or less stressful than a less research-intensive position. I can say that I was just as happy at Georgia Southern as I am at FIU, and I have a list of things I like and dislike about both places. As is often the case, it will be the specifics of the particular institution (and your match to that institution), rather than broad categorizations based upon research intensity, that will likely determine how happy you are with your job.
My first faculty position was a Georgia Southern University, which is a regional public institution with many Master’s programs, a very few doctoral programs (none in any of the sciences at the time), and lots of undergraduate students. At the time, Georgia Southern was a primarily undergraduate institution, with substantial teaching loads (I taught three classes a semester). My startup funds were generous for the type of institution, but much more limited than for a big research university- I had plenty of money to buy equipment and conduct research, but I couldn’t support a laboratory manager for long or a postdoctoral researcher. Expectations for tenure were matched to the teaching load and research support- I was supposed to publish every year, publish work from research at GSU, and apply for substantial funding.
My current position is at Florida International University, which is a giant (nearly 60K students!), very high research, and public institution in Miami Florida. FIU has lots of doctoral programs, a medical school, and our teaching load is correspondingly modest (I teach one to two courses per semester). My startup funds were low for a big research institution, but still enough to pay for a postdoc and some graduate student support. Expectations for tenure were publishing regularly and bringing in at least one large grant from NSF, NIH, or similar.
What are the similarities or differences between a job at a master’s granting PUI versus an R1 institution? Well, from my perspective, the similarities between the two jobs is most striking. The week is structured by teaching in both jobs, albeit the amount of teaching was greater for me at Georgia Southern. Research was just as important at Georgia Southern as it is at FIU, but the amount of time to do research is less at Georgia Southern. Service was generally similar between the two jobs. I have many friends that are professors across the entire spectrum of institutions of higher educations, and I think the job is largely similar across institutions. And some of the factors that many folks think would be different between a PUI and an R1 differed, at least for me, in the opposite direction that you might pick.
I think because the perceived hierarchy of higher ed has been so engrained in our training, there is an expectation that the more research-intensive school is better somehow. I can tell you that when I was faculty at Georgia Southern, I had a gorgeous office with high ceilings and a giant floor to ceiling window that looked out to a forest. My office at FIU is a hot (HVAC is a challenge in Florida) little cell in a building whose architecture must have been inspired by the Soviet Era brutalist aesthetic. Especially at large but cash-strapped public institutions like FIU, space is always difficult. At Georgia Southern, I shared a new and well-equipped lab with another faculty member who did similar research. At FIU, I share a larger but older lab space with another faculty member who does similar research. Grad students at Georgia Southern had allocated office space, while finding office space for grad students at FIU has been a challenge. In other words, a large research university will not necessarily have better facilities or infrastructure that a PUI.
One other common misconception about working at a PUI versus an R1 institution is that working at a PUI is less stressful or hectic. In fact, I have talked to lots of faculty job seekers (grad students and postdocs) who want a job at a PUI because of this idea. However, I have found that the busyness and stress is the same at both institutions. Before I was tenured at FIU, there was certainly anxiety about landing a big research grant, as well as keeping up research productivity with publications. However, I felt the same amount of stress at Georgia Southern to keep up research productivity despite a substantial teaching load. After all, I still needed to fund my work and have a productive research program, and so I was still writing grant proposals and manuscripts. As mentioned before, I have colleagues and many different types of institutions, and when I was first on the job market, I interviewed at many different types of institutions. From my perspective, the stress about the job is generally the same, regardless of the type of the institution. Probably the biggest driver of stress in any faculty position is your personal inclination towards anxiety or stress and institution-specific factors, regardless of the category of institution as R1 or PUI.
Of course, not all aspects of the job at an R1 or PUI are the same. I get paid a lot better at FIU (probably because we have a faculty union, UFF-FIU), but the cost of living in Miami, Florida is wildly higher than in Statesboro, Georgia. I have found that the capacity for research is certainly greater at FIU, with PhD students, research institutes, and many other resources. Because of time limitations due to the teaching load, either the scope of projects or the amount of time to complete a project were impacted at Georgia Southern. Ironically, I think it is easier to be a good teacher at FIU that Georgia Southern, because you can devote more time to teaching when you are teaching a lot less. To keep up research productivity and not be a workaholic, there was a certain amount of triage that had to take place with teaching at Georgia Southern. It may surprise you to learn that the faculty and leadership at FIU cares about teaching just as much as faculty and leadership at Georgia Southern.
What does this mean for faculty job seekers at PUIs and R1s? Well, I think the most important point is that it is basically the same job regardless of the type of college or university. The good (e.g., you get to set your schedule, you control your teaching and research programs, etc.) and bad (e.g., lack of structure can lead to overworking, faculty interests are not always aligned with institutional leadership, etc) of being a faculty member are largely the same. If you are interested in a job at a PUI because you think it is easier or less stressful, I hate to tell you that I don’t think that is the case. Conversely, if you have trepidations about landing an R1 job because it seems too busy or stressful, I can tell you that I have not found it more or less stressful than a less research-intensive position. I can say that I was just as happy at Georgia Southern as I am at FIU, and I have a list of things I like and dislike about both places. As is often the case, it will be the specifics of the particular institution (and your match to that institution), rather than broad categorizations based upon research intensity, that will likely determine how happy you are with your job.
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