The assistant professor was shocked. For six years on the tenure track, all the assessments of his work had been positive--or at least not negative. His annual evaluations rated him consistently good or better on teaching, service, and research. The sparse written comments from his chair were in the vein of "you are doing what you need to do." The…

This report, based on a series of interviews and document analyses, presents a case study of one new college faculty member showing the relationships between a department chair, program head, and the new faculty member concerning research expectations and development. The report argues that to be successful in the contemporary research university,…