Who Are the Faculty?

2019 ◽  
pp. 80-95
Author(s):  
James W. Dean ◽  
Deborah Y. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Shared Governance ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Academic Promotion ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
Faculty Positions ◽  
Doctor Of Philosophy ◽  
Tenure Process

To many, the role of the faculty in academic institutions is unclear. It is important to understand how professors impact the reputational quality of a university. This chapter explores how faculty earn their doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees, the differences between tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty positions, the academic promotion and tenure process, academic freedom, and shared governance.

Faculty Are Not Employees

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
Holden Thorp ◽  
Buck Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Shared Governance ◽  
Tenured Faculty ◽  
The Public ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

The role of faculty forms the heart of the university in terms of its scholarship, patient care, and teaching. It is important that the university and the faculty rededicate themselves to outstanding teaching; the erosion of teaching by tenured faculty is contributing to the strain in the relationship with the public. Tenure, academic freedom, and shared governance are all indispensable concepts in the functioning of a great university that are mysterious to those outside the academy. Communicating the importance of these concepts is a critical need for higher education.

scholarly journals Postdoctoral research training and the attainment of faculty careers in social science and STEM fields in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanbing Wang ◽  
Joyce B. Main
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tenure Track Faculty ◽  
Faculty Positions ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Postdoctoral Research

Purpose While postdoctoral research (postdoc) training is a common step toward academic careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, the role of postdoc training in social sciences is less clear. An increasing number of social science PhDs are pursuing postdocs. This paper aims to identify factors associated with participation in postdoc training and examines the relationship between postdoc training and subsequent career outcomes, including attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and early career salaries. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients, this study applies propensity score matching, regression and decomposition analyses to identify the role of postdoc training on the employment outcomes of PhDs in the social science and STEM fields. Findings Results from the regression analyses indicate that participation in postdoc training is associated with greater PhD research experience, higher departmental research ranking and departmental job placement norms. When the postdocs and non-postdocs groups are balanced on observable characteristics, postdoc training is associated with a higher likelihood of attaining tenure-track faculty positions 7 to 9 years after PhD completion. The salaries of social science tenure-track faculty with postdoc experience eventually surpass the salaries of non-postdoc PhDs, primarily via placement at institutions that offer relatively higher salaries. This pattern, however, does not apply to STEM PhDs. Originality/value This study leverages comprehensive, nationally representative data to investigate the role of postdoc training in the career outcomes of social sciences PhDs, in comparison to STEM PhDs. Research findings suggest that for social sciences PhDs interested in academic careers, postdoc training can contribute to the attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and toward earning relatively higher salaries over time. Research findings provide prospective and current PhDs with information helpful in career planning and decision-making. Academic institutions, administrators, faculty and stakeholders can apply these research findings toward developing programs and interventions to provide doctoral students with career guidance and greater career transparency.

The role of online learning in the merit and promotion process: Is credit necessary or applied?

First Monday ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Kupczynski ◽  
Angela M. Gibson ◽  
Linda Challoo
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
Promotion Process ◽  
Tenure Process ◽  
Current Standards

Traditionally, universities have awarded promotion/tenure based on subjective criteria developed by the granting institution and disregarded credit for creating and teaching an online course. Current standards for promotion/tenure at Texas public universities and the role that an online course should play in tenure/promotion process are explored. Texas was selected to represent national standards in the promotion and tenure process.

scholarly journals The Role Of Service In P&T Decisions

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Saunders ◽  
Christopher Luchs ◽  
Walter Smith
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
The Third ◽  
Full Professorship ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
Tenure Process

Promotion and tenure are very important to faculty members, especially to faculty that are untenured or are in the lower academic ranks.  Typically, universities grant promotion and tenure (P & T) based on three components: research, teaching, and service.  Research is usually relatively well defined and is based on some combination of quality and quantity of presentations and publications.  Teaching effectiveness is typically evaluated using peer evaluations, student evaluations, and the ratings of administrators.  The third component, service, tends to be the least well defined of the three.   The reason for this may be that service is more difficult to quantify because its components tend to be numerous and vague.  This study investigates the perceived importance, what is, of service in the P & T decisions and how important service should be in those decisions.  Email questionnaires were sent to faculty across the nation to obtain their perceptions concerning the overall importance of service in the P & T process at their school.  The survey is designed to capture data regarding the perceived present importance of service in the promotion and tenure process, and what the importance of service in the promotion and tenure process should be.  The results indicate that service is considered to be between “slightly” and “moderately” important in obtaining promotion and tenure.  Respondents indicated that service should be at least “moderately important” in the P & T decision process.  These differences between how important service is and how important it should be are all statistically significant at the 1% level.  Overall, the results show that service is more important for the promotion to full professorship decision than it is for the promotion to associate and granting of tenure decisions.  In addition, analyses show that how important service is and how important it should be varies significantly with some of the demographic characteristics of the respondents’ schools.

Mass Media and Instituional Change: Organizational Reputation, Strategy, and Outcomes in the Academic Freedom Movement

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deana Rohlinger ◽  
Jordan Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Freedom Movement ◽  
Quality Of Coverage

We conceptualize mass media as a field of action and consider how a social movement organization's reputation affects its media strategy as well as the quality of coverage it receives. Drawing on an analysis of two organizations mobilizing around academic freedom, Students for Academic Freedom (SAF) and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), we find that an organization's reputation is consequential. FIRE, which has a strong reputation, gets high-quality coverage and primarily uses this media attention to threaten its targets. SAF has a weak reputation and, consequently, uses alternative and organizational media to create opportunities to spread its ideas to a broader public. It does so by exploiting the linkages among media outlets and moving its ideas from smaller to larger news outlets. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research for understanding the role of mass media in strategy, outcomes, and institutional change.

scholarly journals DOCUMENTING AND EVALUATING DATA SCIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS IN ACADEMIC PROMOTION IN DEPARTMENTS OF STATISTICS AND BIOSTATISTICS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lance A. Waller
Keyword(s):  
Data Science ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Specific Component ◽  
Academic Promotion ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
Evaluation Of Data

ABSTACTThe dynamic intersection of the emerging field of Data Science with the established academic communities of Statistics and Biostatistics continues to generate lively debate, often with the two fields playing the role of an upstart (but brilliant), tech-savvy prodigy and an established (but brilliant), curmudgeonly expert, respectively. Like any new discipline, Data Science brings new perspectives and new tools to address new questions requiring new perspectives on traditionally established concepts. In this paper, we explore a specific component of this discussion, namely the documentation and evaluation of Data Science-related research, teaching, and service contributions for faculty members seeking promotion and tenure within traditional departments of statistics and Biostatistics.

The Key Role of Adjuncts

2020 ◽  
pp. 118-127
Author(s):  
Ilana Redstone
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
College Instructors ◽  
Tenure Track

Academic freedom is particularly tenuous for the growing number of college instructors who hold positions that are neither tenured nor on the tenure track. The temporary, one-semester-at-a-time nature of many adjunct contracts creates a set of incentives not to run afoul of college administrations. An adjunct who wants to continue to teach will tread very carefully, with the goal of ensuring that even the most easily offended student in a class doesn’t hear or read anything that might spur the filing of a complaint. The tenuous nature of adjunct appointments is incompatible with strong academic freedom protections. Even if such protections existed, the nature of adjunct positions would make those protections difficult to enforce.

scholarly journals A Benefit-Maximization Solution to Our Faculty Promotion and Tenure Process

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somjit Barat ◽  
Hanafiah Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
Time Commitment ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Track Candidate ◽  
Optimal Mix ◽  
Critical Components ◽  
The University ◽  
Tenure Process

<p>Tenure-track/tenured faculty at higher education institutions are expected to teach, conduct research and provide service as part of their promotion and tenure process, the relative importance of each component varying with the position and/or the university. However, based on the author’s personal experience, feedback received from several colleagues, and review of research on this topic, the authors note that there is considerable concern among many faculty members as to what constitutes an optimal mix of the critical components of evaluation.</p><p>Consequently, the authors present a cost-benefit utilitarian model using which, the faculty member can objectively allocate his/her limited resources, such as time commitment and effort, between teaching and research activities. The authors believe that such a blueprint will prove to be a critical tool for the tenure-track candidate, as well as for the university administration. One of the notable features of the proscribed tool is that it is not discipline-specific and therefore, has a wide application in university governance.</p>

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