The pay is low, and even within departments, there are gross imbalances in work expectation and pay. For faculty members in "my generation" there was no start up money. There have been many years where there has been no travel money. At most, I have received $1000, which does not even cover one conference. I have spent over $30,000 of my one money to go to conferences and get my career kickstarted in the first decade. I never received acknowledgement for this. I have repeatedly asked for equity raises, to be told by the college dean and department chair, "Go out and get a competing offer." Meanwhile, faculty in my own department with lower rank and less experience, and fewer accomplishments, make more than I do. The university has a "flat" organization structure which means you are at the mercy of perhaps just one person over you (the department chair). No one is beholden to you, or cares about you. This results in surprising isolation. One rogue colleague or department chair can do a lot of damage. In general the university has a wanna-be Tier I attitude, which means they will buy talent rather than grow what they have.
