Within any college and university, it is in the academic department where most of the work is accomplished in educating students and carrying out the institution's academic mission. Department chairs are at the front lines of policy implementation. At a recent meeting members of [New England Resource Center for Higher Education's] NERCHE's…

The role of academic deans with respect to faculty work varies depending on the institution. Some evaluate faculty directly, while others are involved through reporting relationships with department chairs. Deans are in a position to allocate resources and shape institutional policies and structures that create conditions for productive…

To identify reasons for peer evaluation of college teaching being more honored in rhetoric than in practice, events that occurred on the campus of a prominent public research university are described and suggestions offered as to why peer evaluation is not often practiced. A Committee on Teaching Effectiveness was appointed in response to…

Noting that librarians are integral to the library's performance of its educational function, this report argues that faculty status should be extended to academic librarians. This argument is supported by an excerpt from the "Joint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians," which was developed by the Association…

Performance evaluation used for both faculty and librarians for 2 years included rating of performance standards, professional achievement, and auxiliary services. After careful application to ensure equitability of the original and revised forms, faculty questioned the implications of emphasis on research and publication, achievement, salaries,…

To make merit-pay plans work, a district's teacher-evaluation system must be both summative and formative--evaluating both for teacher outcomes and for progressive improvement. Only peer-mediated self-appraisal systems seem able to meet such a challenge. Fairly rewarded merit-pay plans depend on accurate teacher evaluations. However, teacher…

Using data from previous comprehensive studies of incentive pay plans, this report draws conclusions about assessing and implementing various incentive pay plans. Following a brief history of incentive pay plans from 1908 to 1983, an analysis of accumulated research is provided that shows the reasons why incentive pay plans for teachers have…

Six major areas of part-time college faculty employment practices are discussed that illustrate how current practice can be detrimental to part-time faculty performance. Attention is directed to appointment, support services, communication with peers, participation in governance, compensation, and job security. The following areas that require…

Issues of institutional accountability for colleges and universities are examined in the American and European contexts, particularly as market forces gain importance in Europe. Varying forms of accountability (formal, through accreditation; financial; and academic) and two dimensions of accountability (external vs. internal, legal vs. financial)…

The college or university academic affairs committee of the governing board holds the primary responsibility for defining, overseeing, and modifying the "policies" that fulfill the institution's academic mission, including: ensuring that the academic program is consistent with the institution's mission and strategies; ensuring that the academic…

This book addresses issues in higher education faculty assessment with emphasis on the role of assessment in fostering development of individual faculty members and their institutions. Part 1 describes the role of faculty assessment with the first chapter outlining inadequacies in current approaches. The second chapter offers a perspective on…

This report, sponsored by a coalition of District of Columbia-based higher education associations and public higher education systems, examines a wide range of faculty employment policies. The project was undertaken to encourage a proactive approach to preparing the higher education workforce for the 21st century and to address concerns of…

These selected papers on non-traditional and interdisciplinary programs in higher education take as their theme, developing effective interdisciplinary instruction. The first set of papers which address teaching in interdisciplinary programs describe particular programs, address teaching theory, and examine interdisciplinary teaching in connection…

Academic staffing practices used at four-year colleges and universities are identified, and recommendations are offered for achieving staffing flexibility in the face of conditions such as scarce resources. In addition to considering faculty flow models (e.g., Markov models and simulators) as a management/planning tool to evaluate personnel and…

As schools primarily use human resources to accomplish their mission of developing the potential of students, their success is contingent upon the quality of the people employed by the schools. Thus, the selection and development of professionals within the schools is the most important responsibility of the school board and superintendent. The…