The role of the department chair is considered one of the most thankless jobs in higher education, but there is surprisingly little research on the daily work-lives of faculty members serving in departmental leadership roles. This study updates the literature by using a national sample of 3,317 associate and full professors serving in department…

The evolution from new faculty to department chair, through tenure and promotion, has been widely studied, yielding ideas for success. The move from department chair back to faculty status is less studied, with fewer insights in the literature. This article offers a brief review of literature related to becoming and stepping down from the role of…

As institutions of higher education evolve and adapt to meet the increasing needs of their communities, faculty are faced with the choice of where and how to employ their time and expertise. To advance and encourage partnerships between institutions and their communities, academic reward structures must be designed in ways that support those who…

Unethical research practices are prevalent in China, but little research has focused on the causes of these practices. Drawing on the criminology literature on organisational deviance, as well as the concept of "cengceng jiama," which illustrates the increase of pressure in the process of policy implementation within a top-down…

While interdisciplinarity has been promoted in universities for decades, research suggests that untenured faculty struggle to receive recognition for their interdisciplinary research. Informed by the microfoundations of institutional theory and discursive legitimation, we examine how members of academic departments participate in the legitimation…

Curriculum, and the teaching and learning that stem from it, is at the heart of each higher education institution. Faculty have the responsibility for developing curriculum in higher education contexts, yet little is known about the beliefs faculty hold of curriculum that underpin how they engage in the curriculum development process. Using…

This study examines how community-engaged scholarship (CES) was defined and described in promotion and tenure policies at a university. Examining 67 policies across university, school, and department levels, findings show meaningful variability with regards to whether and how CES was defined or described. Analysis categorizes descriptions of CES…

Choosing how to recognize community-engaged scholarship in promotion and tenure policies so that it is assessed accurately and fairly remains a relatively new and ongoing challenge for institutions of higher education. This case study examines how one US research university integrated text to recognize community-engaged scholarship across all…

Over the last two decades there have been periodic calls for improved teacher training and a growth in scholarship on teaching and learning. Yet, we know little about opportunities and participation in training programs. What kinds of training are political scientists collectively engaging in, especially for tenured and tenure track faculty? Are…

The evaluation of teaching quality is a concern for leaders in higher education. Faculty supervisors must make recommendations for hiring, promoting, and rendering tenure decisions for faculty members. In addition, they must deal with problem faculty and decide how to address faculty misbehavior. Oversight and management of faculty teaching…

The evolving landscape of higher education has forced many institutions to reorganize, remove administrative layers, and subsequently, reexamine criteria and processes. In particular, efforts to consolidate and combine departments has prompted a need to explore options for a systematic and objective framework for evaluating performance. This paper…