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…

Alongside increasing demand for faculty to do more teaching, research, and community service, there is increasing pressure to improve the quality of academic work. The relationship between quantity and quality of academic work is complex, and achieving higher quality requires that academics, administrators, and funding bodies have a better…

Based on a recent study, this article asserts that training programs in classroom testing are constrained by classroom management demands (chiefly student resistance to higher order thinking tasks), the curriculum's overemphasis on broad content coverage, a lack of organizational commitment to strengthening the teaching-testing connection, and…

A national survey of baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs concerning tenure policy and practices provides information about institutional tenure criteria and predictors of tenure award. (MSE)

Offers a case study of a history professor teaching at the Behrend College campus of Pennsylvania State University. Provides general information concerning professional responsibilities and teaching techniques, suggesting methods for adapting to this particular environment. Urges similar disclosure of work conditions by other professionals so that…

Ohio's legislative interest in regulating college faculty workloads is seen as unnecessary by many institutions. Impetus for new regulations requiring more faculty time in the classroom comes from research on increased use of teaching assistants for undergraduate instruction. Some argue that early retirement and reductions in the number of…

A discussion of college faculty development in the United States reviews the past 30 years' history and considers what is needed for the movement to be fully institutionalized. A broader approach to faculty development, addressing all areas of faculty endeavor and not just scholarly pursuits, is recommended. (MSE)

A discussion of college faculty productivity defines the term and looks at related issues, including ways of improving productivity; costs of academic work; "deadwood"; and productive behavior as it relates to research, grantsmanship, instructional quality, enrollment and class size, and teaching load. Incentives and persuasive arguments are seen…

A survey of 136 New Jersey state college faculty found under 20% actively engaged in grant activities, citing need for released time from heavy workloads, desire for greater professional recognition, lack of information about funding opportunities, and inadequate technical assistance in grant development. Eight recommendations for encouraging and…

Excerpts from discipline-based task force statements outline the range of activities of faculty in five disciplines: history; management and business; the arts; chemistry; and geography. The excerpts focus on the nature of scholarship and allow comparison of the varied roles, responsibilities, and perspectives of faculty in those fields. (MSE)

Discusses the implementation and use of computer-assisted learning in a traditional university physics course at Keele University (England), its effect on traditional course structure, and the effective use of academic staff time. Highlights SToMP (Software Teaching of Modular Physics), based on distance learning principles that permit self-paced…

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…

Describes a technique designed to assess workforce availability and workload demands on family-medicine faculty at East Carolina University (North Carolina), using weeks per year as the unit of measurement. During the assessment period, a study revealed the department needed 2.8 additional faculty to cover existing work requirements and…

A school board member-turned-English teacher shares several insights: teaching is exhausting work; class size matters; teachers are isolated; teachers often misunderstand board actions; administrative filters distort what boards and teachers are really saying; adopting one-sided, radical change is foolhardy; and teachers are professionals…

Seeks to identify and reach consensus on criteria that can be used to assess and evaluate faculty sabbaticals. Using a sample of senior academic affairs administrators, 16 assessment criteria were identified, with recommendations made for further research and current practice. The measures included: increased scholarly output, new research…