Agreed on the research front: here in the UK research grants are so competitive that unless you have some university money to start your project before even ask

Agreed on the research front: here in the UK research grants are so competitive that unless you have some university money to start your project before even asking for external funding, you're not likely to win the grant. And from the accounts of my colleages, teaching loads are on the rise here though I don't know about the US. On the admin front, I did hear about an anonymous university having a large and long meeting discussing the colour of their logo last year.