Notes on tenure
Illinois Tech got hit hard by a large drop in foreign graduate enrollment due to changing visa requirements, general anti-US sentiment, more opportunities in other countries and a weaker job market for graduating Masters students partly due to artificial intelligence. Universities face challenges beyond international students including Baumol’s disease, administrative bloat to meet expanding regulations, the demographic cliff, reduced grant funding, and less support of universities by the public and both political parties, and AI changing how and why we teach. Illinois Tech is one of the first tech research schools to eliminate tenured roles, but it won’t be the last.
I’ll be okay but many of the other faculty could really use another position, in some cases so they can stay in the US. If you have opportunities for faculty in any discipline, let me know and I’ll pass it along.
