A lot of the administration problems had to do with internal communication problems in the department and university, and severe budget shortfalls (in part due to state politics). You could say it was climate or culture as well, but to me the primary issues were communication problems, mostly due to personal, private interactions superceding formal, transparent, public processes and discussion, coupled with a failure of people in administrative positions to recognize what was happening and respond appropriately. Where I was at, the atmosphere went from one of mutual respect and encouragement when I started, to one where there was constant mutual hostility and distrust, fueled by these sorts of "shadow" power structures that don't communicate with one another. My experiences by the end were kind of similar to what was described in the piece that's the focus of this thread, but involving different groups of faculty rather than faculty and students, and with everything, not just teaching.

I think if family considerations had not entered the picture I still probably would have stayed, or at least would have stayed long enough to leave for another university, but with the ongoing problems in the university and department, it was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back.

Interesting. Corporate America has been a similar experience for me but it's obviously you're much less emotionally and personally invested in each corporate opportunity. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah I would never suggest human failings somehow are unique to academics, unfortunately. I guess in life there's no perfect solutions sometimes; there's the constant tension of security and flexibility.