Much has been written on tenure status among librarians due to the unique work responsibilities they have in comparison to other faculty across campus. This study explores one facet of work often unique to tenure-track librarians--long-term or permanent management responsibilities. In addition to gathering descriptive data about what type of…

Consumer demands and annual budgetary inconsistencies have caused today's postsecondary academic landscape to continuously shift and change. Challenges to remain competitive or simply survive impact postsecondary institutions at their most fundamental level: those who are teaching the core curricula. Within the discipline of English, lecturers…

The mission of higher education and the activities of faculty are often described in terms of teaching, research, and service. Additionally, tenure has been the standard model for employment in American college and universities since 1940. The traditional model of faculty earning tenure through high standards of teaching, research, and service is…

Discusses how some colleges are letting tenured and tenure-track professors cut their hours and pay to spend more time with their families. (EV)

Although consulting has long been recognized as a legitimate faculty role in most colleges, concern has arisen about the appropriateness of "double dipping," and particularly whether consulting and other supplemental income activities result in shirking other university responsibilities. The debate centers on six basic issues: who…

Flexible tenure contracts are proposed as an alternative to the current college faculty tenure system. Such a contract would make more explicit, and potentially more varied, the contributions expected of the candidate, but avoid the tenure-track/non-tenure-track distinction. It could also help resolve conflicts over the relative weights to be…

Provides results from a survey of 34 colleges using methods other than credit/contact hours to determine faculty workload. Lists the most commonly used nontraditional workload factors and reports on a survey of faculty attitudes toward the workload formulas. (DMM)

A set of departmental promotion guidelines ensure that medical faculty understand what is expected and what will be evaluated when promotion is considered. An approach to setting faculty evaluation standards, used at Cornell University Medical College Department of Psychiatry, and its application to primary areas of faculty work are outlined.…

The incidence and extent of faculty consulting are examined, along with the characteristics of faculty who consult and those who do not, costs and benefits of faculty consulting, the economic status of faculty, and policy considerations. A conceptual framework and historical context are provided that relate consulting and other faculty activities…

A study identified the issues that influence tenured and tenure-track faculty members' involvement in sponsored projects at Bradley University (Illinois), a predominantly undergraduate institution. Faculty attitudes toward grant-related activities, and incentives and barriers to faculty participation, are discussed. Results show faculty see a…

Three myths about tenure are discussed: (1) that tenure is responsible for the increasing cost of education; (2) that the solution to increasing costs is to run a college like a business; and (3) that university presidents and administrators need flexibility to hire and fire professionals to achieve both cost containment and their new vision of…

The American Association of University Professors statement concerns policies and practices that open senior academic appointments to persons with reduced workloads and salaries without loss of status. (MSE)

A recent Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report counters the conventional wisdom in academe that faculty research must be evaluated by standards different from those of teaching and service, maintaining that the different types of faculty work have much in common and must be judged similarly if teaching and service are to gain…

College faculty, particularly in the humanities, are finding institutions do not always treat substantial work with electronic media as a form of scholarship or service. While more humanities departments are embracing technology, faculty are finding involvement in innovative projects risky to their careers. Professional associations are criticized…

A junior faculty member reflects on the dilemma of that professional position, noting that its anxieties fall into two categories: "Is this all there is?" and "What if we lose it?" She examines problems with, and prohibitions against, speaking one's mind in that position, sees solutions as being institutional or individual, and examines how…