Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profileg
Ben Sasse

@BenSasse

Go Gators!

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linkhttp://ufl.edu calendar_today03-06-2013 23:18:20

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

G’night…
well, back to Sunday Night Ball
— Lambeau in December ain’t no vacation.

(But probably still better than college football playoff-yelling twitter)

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

UF faculty do amazing, world-changing work. We're driven by our commitments to scholarship and great teaching. We're not partisans here; we're pragmatists — we want to build, create, discover, solve, teach, and serve. If that sounds good, come join us!
The Swamp is glorious…

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Here’s the bottom line:
UF is home for anyone passionate about the glorious mission of education.
Left? Right? We don’t give a rip about your politics!
We want great teachers + researchers. (Activists looking to hijack taxpayer-funded classrooms are def encouraged to stay away)

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

UF will always defend acad freedom. We believe in open inquiry & speech. That’s different than political activism. Tenure is imp & confers prestige on the most foundational members of a university - but isn’t license to substitute classroom activism for actual inquiry& great educ

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Obviously some folks leave. But are all departures the same? Obviously not. Big diff between a new job and a buyout. A couple activists willing say what the NYT’s predetermined narrative wants don't speak for thousands of faculty members who are doing amazing work

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Across higher ed, folks know we’re hiring — lots.
And our new hires average far more output than those departing. At our Hamilton Ctr (likely to become our 17th college), we’ve had over 600 stellar faculty applications just this semester — after ~ that many last year too

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

It gets better:
Over the last seven years, with the exception of one year during COVID, UF has annually hired far more faculty than have left:
In FY17 we hired 520 professors.
FY18: 539
FY19: 550
FY20: 614
FY21: 379
FY22: 560
This yr: 606
Basically unrivaled, but….meh, reality

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The biggest source of turnover isn’t politically disaffected professors, but doctors who decide to go make more money in private practice. We gave the Times the breakdown of turnover by college. But they weren’t interested:

political narrative > actual facts

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Here’s the thing:
Our percentages get even better if we account for medical profs moving to private practice. UF is proud to operate a top-three health system in Florida. Healthcare tends to be a higher turnover sector. So our ACADEMIC turnover is even lower (than the above)

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

UF employs well over 4000 faculty. Each year folks come & go: retirements, new jobs, etc. Our attrition rate is well below the 10.6% natl avg. This isn’t something we “say”— it’s a FACT, & facts should matter:
FY17: 8.4%
FY18: 7.8
FY19: 8.9
FY20: 7.4
FY21: 7.0
FY22: 8.6
FY23: 9.3

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Today's dishonest clickbait - about faculty supposedly leaving UF - deliberately downplays facts to get another boring, cookie-cutter political narrative. UF has a great story, but since facts don’t fit NYT’s predetermined goal, they skate past them. Let’s run through some of it:

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Ben Sasse(@BenSasse) 's Twitter Profile Photo

holy moly.
How embarrassing that folks decided to pass this narrative-driven nonsense — including clickbait Alerts!! —
off as “journalism,” which is actually a genuinely important calling.
nytimes.com/2023/12/03/us/…
The New York Times readers deserve better — and so do our UF faculty

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