Faculty transfer and its association with mental well-being in academia

Abstract

Mental health and sense of faculty well-being have never been as palpable as today. It is realized that universities are undergoing a sea-change with internationalization that may necessitate faculty transfers to different campuses. Rescinding workloads, autonomy misuse, frequent transfers, declined sabbatical and lack of university support are described. Often, transfer clauses in appointment letters are exploitative in nature and targeted to retrench faculty and expedite department closures. The present article takes a dive into the lesser-known issues of faculty transfer, continuous curriculum revamp, legal mechanism of transfer, faculty burnout on relocation, care and management of mental health and university support. Finally, a detailed perspective and guidelines to improve transfer support by universities, legal discourse, stress mitigation strategies for faculty on transfer orders is discussed.

Keywords: faculty transfer, relocation, burnout, autonomy, workload issues, university ranking, transfer refusal