With only a few years to 25, if it isn't teaching or research it goes pretty far down the priority list.  As in 5 minutes before the deadline and as little effort as can be put in and not get yelled at.  I'm working more hours than at any time in my career, just rearranging as many "service" hours as is decently possible to other things. 

Don't think I'm an outlier on this one. 

Oh, getting beaten up by upper level people drawing administrators paychecks (they aren't really administrators, they just paid like they are) hasn't done much for my enthusiasm for service.

Rodin wrote:

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I often think: Why don't we, as USM faculty, give the people of Hattiesburg and Mississippi what they want? Why don't we just teach our classes, put in our hours, do the bare minimum necessary research, and let the administrators "run the show"? We really have no incentive to resist Thames if we're tenured. When he leaves, we can just do what that president wants. I am of the opinion that we should start acting like employees, since that's what the state views us as. Do exactly (and only) what we're told to do and let the great state of Mississippi pick up the pieces when it all falls apart. Right is right and wrong is wrong, but I think the citizens of Mississippi should get what they want (deserve).

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Faculty should not simply "start acting like employees" because the academic community, the public interest, democracy and the open society demand that they stand up for academic freedom, critical inquiry, and an appropriate share in the governance of institutions dedicated to learning, research and service.  That the local citizenry -- or university administrators, for that matter -- don't recognize the central importance of these civilizational ideals is irrelevant.  Faculty bear a sacred trust that they abandon only at the cost of much more than a paycheck.