Purpose: This paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political-power interactions. Examples are provided from the authors' experiences of a research-based CoP within UK higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is primarily…

Phased retirement policies are more or less attractive financially and more or less accommodating of individual differences. They are also implemented in varying ways, variations that especially affect departments and academic programs.

Despite the importance of faculty retention, there is little understanding of how demographic variables, professional and institutional worklife issues, and satisfaction interact to explain faculty intentions to leave at a national level. Using the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:1999) database, this study proposes (a) to extend our…

A paradigm shift in the use of faculty appointment types is occurring in academia. Using National Study of Postsecondary Faculty data, this study examines the influence of appointment type on faculty productivity--research and education--and commitment at Research and Doctoral institutions. All full-time faculty and a subset based on experience…

This article presents the historical pertinence of undergraduate education to developing a career ladder within the field of vocational rehabilitation. Support for the relevance is presented through the results of an investigation of baccalaureate-level competence and preparation as perceived by graduates of rehabilitation services programs. Job…

The author had a conversation one late afternoon with an untenured colleague from another department regarding chili pepper ratings. Her colleague explained that the popular RateMyProfessor.com Web site allows students to rate faculty members not only according to standards of "clarity," "helpfulness," and something called "easiness," but also in…

Faculty and their work are the heart, and thus determine the health, of every college and university and have a lasting impact on the many lives they touch. Well over a million faculty members now teach about 15 million students at over 4,000 colleges and universities in this country. The continued vitality of the academic profession is therefore…

Emerging from the entanglement of tensions with the perception that if one is a minority, female, and short, it would appear that one is likely never to get to the top of the corporate ladder. In addition to what people already know about the stark realities of gender and racial discrimination in the workplace, some studies suggest that physical…

Two studies were conducted. In study one 100 participants rated 60 occupations on the amount of cognitive/intellectual, physical, sensory-perceptual, and perceptual-motor demands they perceived as required for successful performance in that particular occupation. Results of a cluster analysis determined four clusters of occupations on the basis of…

Purpose: The paper seeks to determine what tomorrow's employees (i.e. graduates) are seeking from SMEs in terms of organizational satisfaction and value characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of 55 university students who identified SMEs as their best opportunity for their career goals is shown. The survey utilized tested measures…

The implications of the policy choices made in setting up a phased retirement system are demonstrated by its variety of outcomes. (Contains 5 tables.)

Individuals who retire have widely varying needs and differ also in their preparedness for their new conditions.

Based on an extensive survey of the numbers, salaries, and benefits of part-time and non-tenure-track faculty in ten academic disciplines, a November 2000 report from the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) clarified how colleges and universities depend on contingent labor and how inadequately many of these faculty are supported. A group of…

This chapter examines aspects of the life of the chair after the person returns to full-time service as a faculty member. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper looks at the pressures under which academics in Australia are currently working, with special regard to small regional universities. Some time will be spent in explaining the situation and context of those working in the field of education at Northern Territory University as an example. In many respects small regional universities are…