During Furloughs, Who Is More Attached to a Public University? Staff? Faculty? . . . Managers

Abstract

Perceived organizational membership (POM) is a relatively new framework to analyze the attachment of employees to their organizations. To date, there are no studies that have examined POM in public higher education. Furthermore, there are relatively few studies that have explored attitudes of public personnel in the context of pay cuts in the form of furloughs. In this article, we present the findings of a survey of more than 5,000 public university faculty, administrative support staff, and managerial personnel. On most POM facets, managerial personnel perceived greater organizational need fulfillment, mattering, and belonging than either faculty or support staff. Implications for university administrators and faculty are discussed, with recommendations to increase POM for all employees.