Reader query on negotiating with teaching schools

In the comments section of our most recent "How can we help you?" post, a reader asks, "What are the do's and don'ts for negotiating a TT job offer/ contract at a teaching college/university?"

Excellent question. As some of you may know, there was a widely publicized horror story a few years back concerning a candidate who had an offer from a teaching university rescinded after she emailed asking for a bunch of things, including limited teaching preps and a pre-tenure sabbatical. The email she received read:

It was determined that on the whole these provisions indicate an interest in teaching at a research university and not at a college, like ours, that is both teaching and student centered...Thus, the institution has decided to withdraw its offer of employment to you.

I don't know of many stories like this, but still, it is a cautionary tale--especially given that in my experience the negotiation stage can be really nerve-wracking. In any case, because schools may be very different here, it might be most helpful to hear from a variety of readers who work at teaching schools or have negotiated offers with them about the kinds of things can be negotiated at their school. Does anyone with experience here have any tips to offer?

My personal, albeit limited experience is that (A) teaching schools may not be willing to negotiate very much (maybe a bit on salary and moving experiences), and (B) unless one has a competing offer from another school, it is probably best to proceed with caution--for, even if one's offer isn't rescinded due to one's negotiating tactics, it can be a bad idea to start things off on a bad foot with one's new department and administration.

How, then, to best proceed? What are some "do's and don'ts"? I guess I don't feel experienced enough to give a list of do's and don'ts. My general feeling, though, is that because one normally negotiates with a dean or provost, the best thing to do may be to feel things out with the chair of the search committee or department via a candid phone conversation after the offer is extended, perhaps beginning with an open-ended question to the effect of, "I'm really excited about the prospect of joining your department. Do you have any advice on negotiating?", feeling out their reactions and proceeding with further questions only if they seem amenable to them.

This seems to me a wise path forward for several reasons.

First, as a matter of emotional/social intelligence, it seems to me wise to begin with a personal phone conversation rather than a more impersonal email exchange (an error that I think the person made in the horror story mentioned earlier). When you are beginning a new job, you are beginning new personal relationships. Email, however, is impersonal, and you cannot feel things out via email that you can in normal conversation (e.g. reading the tone of a person's voice, etc.).

Second, instead of simply laying out negotiation requests (as the person did in the case mentioned above), asking the chair of the committee or department an open-ended question "puts the ball in their court", so to speak. Because the people in the department liked you enough to hire you, there is a fair chance are they care about your interests as a colleague--and so may offer you helpful advice one way or the other; advice to the effect of, "Sorry, the administration here really doesn't negotiate" (something I heard at one school), or "Sorry, all contracts here are union negotiated, so we cannot negotiate" (something I heard at another school), or "You can probably negotiate some on the salary and moving expenses, but not teaching loads--as we have a university policy that all untenured faculty must teach a full teaching load" (something I also heard).

But these are just a few of my thoughts. What are yours?

Comments

[Kristina Meshelski]

Here's a few things I wish someone had told me.

1. Always ask for at least a little more salary, and maybe a lot more for moving/new computer/new books/etc. These one time expenses are especially easy for even the most unwilling to negotiate place. But for the one time expenses, let the original offer be your guide. I would start out by asking to double whatever was offered, and if nothing was offered, just to ask for something.

2. At many state universities, they are required to make all their employee's salaries public. Look these up before you start negotiating. Don't expect to compete with the business school, but look to see what others are being paid at the Assistant level in the Humanities. Be sure to look at a couple people, preferably men, because male salaries are often higher. If they are paying someone else something, that means they could pay you that.

Quick side note on this: it is possible you are being offered more than any of the current Assnt. Profs are making, but that doesn't mean they couldn't pay you a few thousand more than the offer. We had this kind of weird salary compression thing happen in the Cal State.

3. Don't believe what anyone tells you about unions. If the university's faculty are represented by a union, that may mean that the union has a website wherein you can read their contract for yourself. But many people at universities represented by unions don't actually know what the union does or what the contract does or doesn't say. Unless the person is a union rep, they may not know what they are talking about, or worst case scenario, may be purposely disingenuous. Believe me, I have seen this many times.

I also have to say that I disagree with your advice to try to have a candid conversation with the chair, Marcus. This might work if you are lucky, but it is also a risk. First because academics are strange and petty sometimes, and you do not yet know what is going on behind the scenes. And second because as I noted above, the chair might not be informed enough to offer good advice.

4. If you want to try to negotiate some lighter teaching, it is safe to start by simply asking if there are any pre-tenure sabbaticals or other teaching load reduction opportunities. It is actually good to ask this in the campus visit interview stage, but in any case, ask it without seeming too hopeful or expectant. I have met some people from teaching institutions that take a strange kind of pride in how punishing their teaching load is, and they might be quick to take offense if a candidate assumed they could do less teaching. But if you just ask about stuff like this in the negotiation stage, it allows the Dean or provost to explain to you what is currently done and you can learn from that whether it is appropriate to ask for anything. Most likely scenario your case will be like mine and there is no teaching reduction they could possibly offer you, yet once you get hired you can apply for various research leaves that amount to the same thing you were asking for.

5. State universities often have arcane procedures and requirements placed on them. This makes it hard for them to just give stuff to people who ask. Instead, if they have extra money, they want people to apply for it. So there often are ways to get things once you are hired, which you will only fully understand after you are hired, unfortunately.

Good luck everyone! If I were you I would try to do this negotiating over the phone, not email. It can and should take multiple phones calls, in my opinion. And please remember I have limited experience with this, so anyone more experienced than I am may know more.

[Martin Shuster]

You need to know the institution. First, there is a big difference between a 4/4 teaching school, a 3/3 teaching school, and a 3/2 teaching school. Each may be focused on teaching, but in different.

Second, for anything that you ask, have a good *reason* -- this is just basic negotiation.

[D]

I had some success negotiating the terms of my offer at a 4/4 load regional campus of a state school-- even without another job offer. I would definitely advise caution, though: it's critical to show you understand the school's culture, the primacy of teaching, the kinds of budgetary constraints and compression issues that are likely going on, etc. At schools like mine, it's also important to be down to earth and not seem like a diva-- it does not play well at all and would likely ring major alarm bells about a candidate. In a phone conversation, I gently inquired as to whether there was room for negotiation on the salary offer, especially since it would have been a slight pay cut for me; with an invitation to make a counter-offer, then, I got some advice, did my research, and emailed a modest, carefully-worded counter-offer, making sure to state that I understood the constraints the school faced. The result was a modest but significant improvement in my starting salary (which is crucial down the road). Given the context, and my lack of another offer, I think this was as much as could be expected. So, for what it's worth, in my experience it was worth it to try, but I'm glad I was very careful about how I did it. (Another thing: the fact that there's a union contract doesn't necessarily mean you can't negotiate salary, but how salary steps and so forth are set out varies, so do your homework on this before negotiating too.)