As the Young Mathematicians' Network approaches its tenth anniversary,
there are signs that the job market for new grads is taking a turn for
the worse. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that state
revenues are declining across the country
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i17/17a02101.htm
and cuts in hiring are likely to follow this trend. Board member Dave
Kung is serving on a tenure-track search committee, and he reports a
very large number of applicants for the position. There are a few
anecdotes of slow hiring posted on the Scoop site:
http://www.youngmath.net/concerns/story/2003/2/11/17433/1577.
We'd like to hear what you think about the job market, so we've chosen
that for the topic of this month's poll.
In this month's issue, we have the results from our last poll and two
articles. Dave Kung shares his advice for applying for jobs at a
liberal arts college based on his search committee experience. Then
I follow with a piece describing my experience getting scooped while
working on my doctoral research and how I managed to deal with it.
Remember that you can always write to moderator@youngmath.net to
submit articles or suggest ideas for articles. We appreciate your
participation.
Emil Volcheck
volcheck@acm.org
________
For those of you readers without on-line access to
the Chronicle, here are the first few paragraphs of the story cited above.
Another Bleak Budget Year
As state legislatures convene, concerns over money dominate the agenda
By MICHAEL ARNONE, SARA HEBEL, and PETER SCHMIDT
The budget picture is going from bad to worse for higher-education officials in many states, as they prepare for increasingly dire circumstances by limiting their budget requests, raising tuition rates at midyear, and bracing for possible layoffs or program cuts.
With legislatures in 43 states beginning their 2003 sessions in January, the gloomy outlook also has caused many college officials to curtail their policy agendas to focus on budget matters and booming enrollments.
"It's a complete case of triage," says Travis J. Reindl, director of state-policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "Colleges are going to take what's coming in the door now, and start there."
Budget cuts are forcing institutions to curb proposed expansions of their academic programs, especially at the graduate level, and of outreach programs that they have established with elementary and secondary schools, Mr. Reindl says. "Unfortunately," he adds, "those could, in the long term, be to institutions more beneficial than some of the things that are staying."
Across the country, state revenues continue to dip and rainy-day funds that have been used to help bridge growing shortfalls are evaporating. About half of the states have already cut higher-education appropriations for the current, 2002-3 fiscal year, or are planning to do so. By the time the fiscal year ends, higher-education analysts say, state aid to colleges will have dropped below the amount provided in 2001-2. That would be the first time since the early 1990s that state allocations for higher education have fallen from one year to the next.
On top of the fiscal uncertainty, college officials in many states this year are confronting political changes that will force them to begin anew the process of educating state officials about their priorities. New governors are taking over in 24 states, and about a third of all state legislators seated in January will be newcomers.
