Faculty mobility in the 1980s is examined from the perspective of process and market environment, and comparisons are made between current research findings and those reported in 1958 by Theodore Caplow and Reece McGee. The study encompasses faculty recruitment, including search and selection procedures and effect, and the circumstances of termination, such as denial of tenure, voluntary resignation, retirement, and death. Research findings are based on data obtained from 306 faculty members in personal and phone interviews and mail response. Findings are discussed in comparison to human resource management in the nonacademic sector and implication for the practice of human resource management in academic settings, contributing to the organizational culture. An important feature is the introduction of management techniques and thinking at the departmental level that did not exist in the 1950s. Six sections focus on: study background; the new academic market (e.g., researh culture and participants in the market); in search of the best (e.g., applicant pools and initial screening); new patterns of choice (e.g., selection of assistant professors and special cases); observations and separation (e.g., destination and impact of departure); and change and the ivory tower (e.g., faculty turnover and market effects). New management strategies appear to have little effect on the recruitment and termination processes, and these processes have remained traditionally based while the organization is changing under environmental influences. Two appendices are methodology and data comparison. Contains approximately 100 references. (SM)