Argues that the language currently used at research universities to describe faculty work is constraining, emphasizing quantity as opposed to quality, extrinsic as opposed to intrinsic characteristics, lack of trust of faculty, and emphasis on procurement of resources. An alternative use of language is proposed, suggesting that, if faculty can…

Analysis of a survey of 1,556 academics in Australian universities identifies changing work practices that influence the quality of teaching. Notes changing shifts in time spent in and commitment to teaching, changes in approaches to workloads, and work role problems at different ages, career stages, disciplines, and institutions. Concludes that…

Studies the evolution of New Zealand's educational system, including its recent reforms, the driving forces behind such radical changes, and some results and issues. Decentralization has removed layers of intervening support for schools, engendered new learning partnerships, and required increased parent involvement. Issues concerning equity, the…

Reports on experiences encountered during the first 18 months of a 3-year longitudinal study. Focuses on the assessment of staff attitudes and concludes that there is stress related to work overload and a lack of time for research and publishing. Contains 20 references. (DDR)

A discussion of faculty tenure focuses on the system used at Colby College (Maine). Policies and practices are described, with attention given to the four evaluations made before tenure is awarded, efforts to ensure instructional quality and research productivity after the tenure decision, and the balance of teaching and scholarship in the faculty…

Explores the definition and relevance of faculty scholarship in the community college. Examines positive and negative attitudes toward various scholarship criteria in the faculty-reward (promotion, tenure, salary increase, and release time) systems, and discusses concerns about scholarship as an additional facet of faculty evaluation. (25…

States that making time for reflection and renewal is essential to a teacher's ability to give more to others. Highlights suggestions from the research literature that can help faculty manage their personal and professional lives, such as rewarding one's self, finding balance, and managing time. (NB)

Three features of the College/School Professional Network, an urban public college's Professional Development School (PDS) initiative, are: the Network uses resource, partnership, and professional development sites; full-time college faculty workloads are reconfigured to incorporate PDS work as part of the faculty's official job description…

Looks at the effects of advancing technology on academic life, using a simplified version of a scheme for examining diffusion of innovations. Attention is given to technology's impact on teaching, research and scholarship, and service and outreach functions, and on special challenges posed by technology, barriers to its use, and its implications…

Starting in the first months of 2004, over the education online Web page, the opinions of a great many teachers with regard to problems of education were solicited. After it was published, the theme message (zhuti tie) "2005, What We Are Saying" aroused fairly strong repercussions. By November 16, some 10,369 persons had read the…

Even if convergences are to be observed among the orientations adopted by higher education policies in European countries, they still are characterized by strong national features. One of the most striking national patterns of each system is its academic labor market, salaries, status, recruitment procedures, workloads, career patterns, promotion…

Background: Beginning Teachers are confronted with numerous challenges especially in their first year of teaching. Without ample induction support, the beginning teachers could merely develop their capacity on their own. Therefore, some nations implement the policy of internship so as to increase effectiveness of the beginning teachers. In Hong…

Compassion fatigue is a theoretical framework researchers have applied to helping professions other than teaching. The purpose of this report is to propose the use of this theory to better understand the prevalent rates of special education teachers' exit from the profession often labeled as burnout. A qualitative study with six middle school…

This paper describes a campus survey designed to enhance student learning while generating high-quality data for research and evaluation. Students enrolled in a research methods course pretest a draft interview schedule and interview randomly selected students; then, drawing on their interview experience, they write a paper that addresses…

Research supports teacher preparation programs to recognize stress factors and to assist students and new teachers with effective coping mechanisms. Twenty-five to fifty percent of beginning teachers resign during their first three years of teaching (Fleener, 2001; Roulston, Legette, & Womack, 2005). Among all the causes, stress from teaching is…