Faculty Fellows a New Route to Retention
For many deans and program leaders at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, it can seem like their array of bright young faculty members serves as a recruiting pool for other institutions.
Much talk has revolved around how to stem the tide of young stars who earn tenure only to be lured away by more lucrative offers elsewhere. A new idea being implemented in the College of Letters and Science offers a model of action to keep that teaching and research talent on the UW campus.
The Faculty Fellows model uses private support to create supplemental financial packages for deserving faculty members. The first named Faculty Fellows fund in the College of Letters and Science was set up by alumnus George Hamel Jr. ('80 BA L&S) and his wife, Pam. They also have established a matching gift to attract others to what they see as a fantastic way to ensure continued excellence. So far, five other donors have established their own named Faculty Fellows funds.
"I would love to take credit for this concept, but I really can't," said George Hamel, managing partner of ValueAct Capital in San Francisco, California. As a member of the college's board of visitors, George had heard Dean Gary Sandefur "talking about losing people they wanted to keep. We were discussing things we could do to help stem that tide. We (the board) asked, if you could have a magic wand, what would you like?"
The Hamels previously had set up a "smallish" (in George's words) opportunities fund in communication arts. "There were a lot of things, like small or narrow research projects, attending seminars and conferences, that were not big enough for formal grants, but were just costly enough that they didn't do them, or, if they did go forward, faculty members often ended up using their own money," George Hamel said.
"Last fall, we were here for the opening of the (communication arts) digital media lab, and we heard a lot about how these $1,500 grants made a difference. We were surprised how a relatively small amount of money seemingly had such a large impact for these young professors," he said.
Among the pleasant surprises for the Hamels were thanks in book acknowledgements, as well as cards and e-mails.
