Before joining Faculty Senate, Patrick Hrdlicka was what he would call a “disgruntled faculty” at the University of Idaho.
“I tried internally within my department to improve issues, but at some point I couldn’t anymore,” Hrdlicka said. “I ran for senate to make this a better place to work.”
But Hrdlicka, now in his second year on Faculty Senate and first year as the vice chair, said he has found solving those challenges to be a difficult and slow process.
“I’m not a patient person,” Hrdlicka said. “It’s a strength and a weakness.”
Hrdlicka said he joined Faculty Senate with the hopes of raising the salaries of graduate students to help recruit and maintain the teaching and research assistants critical to research.
With UI President Chuck Staben’s goal of raising UI’s research Carnegie Melon classification from R2 to R1, other UI researchers have highlighted low teaching assistant pay as a barrier.
“The one case that riled me up was fairness for graduate students,” Hrdlicka said. “We have aspirations to become an R1 institution, but we are offering R3-level stipends.”
Hrdlicka is co-chair of the recently-formed Faculty Compensation Task Force, a part of a larger move to transition faculty and staff salaries up to average market value nationally. Hrdlicka said he feels he was likely one of the driving forces behind the creation of the task force.
“There is no reason TA’s should be left out of market-based compensation,” he said.
Hrdlicka said he has not made any actual progress, but he thinks he has raised awareness about the issue, laying the groundwork for change. He said he hopes to support a proposal to the University Budget and Finance Committee to fund fee waivers for graduate students.
Though making change has been difficult, Hrdlicka said he finds the efforts to listen and work toward improvement by UI Provost and Executive Vice President John Wiencek and Vice President of Finance Brian Foisy to be encouraging.
Now as vice chair of Faculty Senate, Hrdlicka said he has more ways to influence change.
“It’s a challenge I’m starting to embrace,” Hrdlicka said. “Like it or not, your voice carries more. I can provide genuine input in the process.”
He said he is vocal in the Faculty Senate leadership group along with Wiencek, which were opportunities given to him by his new position.
Hrdlicka said the experience has given him a better idea of the university’s inner workings.
“You get to see administrators as people rather than symbols,” Hrdlicka said. “I’ve learned to appreciate a diverse set of opinions that can be hard with my lack of patience. I’ve learned to be more diplomatic.”
He said he thought getting administrators like the provost involved in solving issues would be more difficult. He said instead, administrators tend to be generous with their time.
Nishant Mohan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NishantRMohan