North Dakota State University- Assistant Prof Trombone

[Vegasbound]

Full details

https://prd.hcm.ndus.edu/psc/recruit/EM ... stingSeq=1&

[tbdana]

Man, it just bugs me when a full-time job paying only $52,000 requires a doctorate as part of its minimum qualifications. You can't live on that, especially with a family, and it's in North Dakota so its not as if you'll be getting much playing work or have career advancement opportunities. What's the point of spending all that money and all those years in school for a doctoral degree if you're going to be on food stamps your whole life?

Here in California a high school dropout fast-food worker can make almost that much.

[ghmerrill]

What's the point of spending all that money and all those years in school for a doctoral degree if you're going to be on food stamps your whole life?

Some of those questions I can address on the basis of experience (though not from the perspective of any music-associated perspective) ...

You actually can live on $52,000 -- just not in certain areas. And that's an "entry level" job. And there are other benefits. Note the reference to tuition waivers for employees, spouses/partners, and dependents. If you get to the right level as an academic, it's often the case that your children can then attend the school tuition-free. And that can be a huge benefit. Salary isn't everything -- and in fact for most academics, isn't even the primary thing. (To be sure, the overall benefits don't compare to what's available in business and industry for similar levels of background and skill -- including the "superb retirement plan" ) Also, I notice the absence of any statement that this position is tenure-track. So probably it's not?

Anyhow, people who want these jobs are (a) pursuing some sort of vision/dream, and see the path they need to take, and (b) are mostly focused on achieving the kind of security that tenure provides as they ascend the academic food chain (leaving aside a whole variety of issues involving tenure both historically and how it's being approached by universities nowadays). Sometimes you have to compromise things like income in order to pursue your dream and ideals. Sometimes you can manage that for a lifetime, and sometimes you change your perspective. But the chance to grab the gold ring of tenure on the academic merry-go-round and achieve that totally safe and secure job for the rest of your life -- well, that's pretty attractive to a lot of people (illusionary though it may be in a lot of circumstances, particularly now).

Now the question of "What's the point of spending all that money and all those years in school?" is (as an attorney, I'm sure you'll recognize) a complex question. All those years in school? Well, that's part of the effort and commitment you're willing to put in to achieve the reward. All that money? ... Uh ... well ... THAT is an entirely different question and I have no answer for it. My graduate degrees cost me nothing (except the effort). In fact, for graduate school I thought I'd finally landed in the (relative, at least) lap of luxury. At least I could afford to live and eat on a regular basis, and without holding down a half-time job while taking a demanding full course load. Graduate school was a relief and a breeze. My fellow graduate students, for the most part, felt the same way.

That being said, at that point in time (yes, even decades and decades ago), the American Philosophical Association REQUIRED every graduate department to provide each student with a letter that -- in the most discouraging tone possible -- described the existing and projected situation for a post-Ph.D. academic career in the discipline. And students needed to pay attention to that. Do music schools do the same sort of things about potential careers? I don't know.

There's nothing wrong with pursuing those dreams -- in a realistic way -- and putting in that effort and suffering some degree of discomfort/pain; no more than striking out on your own and foregoing the whole doctorate route in a different direction. But hey ... despite a lot of my own goals and feelings, I was never ultimately a good fit for academia (except for the teaching, which I loved), and ended up just walking out of a tenured career at some point (in part on the basis of wanting something else, in part on the basis of economics, and in part on disillusion and discomfort with the overall academic environment after all that time).

And, you know, some people seem okay with being on food stamps (or roughly the equivalent of that) for their whole lives. Different strokes ...

Here in California a high school dropout fast-food worker can make almost that much.

And in California, the fast-food worker needs to make that much. So maybe California isn't a good target destination for the sort of cost/career in question. But North Dakota? A bit different.