To determine the perceived needs among faculty for professional development, a survey was conducted of 165 faculty in 13 divisions. Questionnaires were returned by 129, or 78% with over 50% responding from each division. Among the results were the following: (1) the most widely used (93%) professional development resources, inservice sessions, was…

A set of weighting factors on student credit hour production by discipline was developed so that instructional productivity could be equitably compared across disparate disciplines and within disciplines. The new statistical methodology was applied to 3 years of teaching load data from 21 major public universities (the Southern University Group…

Recent research (1978-1982) on student evaluations of teaching is reviewed, including: influence of background variables pertaining to the student, the teacher, and the learning environment; the dimensions of the teaching being evaluated; the validity of students' evaluations; the "Doctor Fox" effect and its implications for validity; the…

The profile of professional staff at the university, presented in tabular form without narration, includes data on full-time faculty, deans and assistant deans, support faculty, and other professional staff members. The characteristics included are: demographic; years of experience in higher education; years of experience since earning their…

Views were surveyed of 24 academics from the Faculties of Arts and Sciences of the University of New South Wales, Australia, on the ways in which their professional lives were being affected by the current recession in higher education. The comments cluster around seven topics: teaching, students, research, colleagues, career prospects, the…

Perceptions of a sample of professors at Indiana University concerning the competencies of freshman students in the basic skills of reading, writing, mathematics, and study skills were investigated. Interviews were conducted with 77 professors who teach lower division courses. Results were tabulated for the total group and separately for the three…

Faculty salary differentials were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Data were used on all full-time academic faculty at a state university, a relatively small land grant institution. A model was developed using rank, time in current rank, highest degree, administrative position, and academic department as independent variables. The effect…

Literature pertinent to the evaluation of faculty development programs is reviewed and data are presented from several studies conducted at Kansas State University and Wichita State University. These data were consistent with those previously reported in that faculty participants consistently expressed satisfaction with development services. In…

The University of Notre Dame developed the Teaching Activity Report in an effort to present professors with meaningful summaries of their individual instructional efforts each semester. Geared to meet the needs of the individual instructors and their superiors, the Teaching Activity Report synthesizes all facets of the individual's instructional…

Two surveys of the 51 faculty members and the 427 students of Harcum Junior College, made to ascertain their values and perceptions as indicated on the Rokeach Value Survey and The Staff Survey (faculty only), were made and results are compared with those of the faculties and students of three California public community colleges. The results…

This study attempted to investigate the organizational differences which develop between various divisions of a community college as a result of specialization. The Lawrence and Lorach concepts of differentiation and integration were utilized in the analysis. The results obtained supported the conclusion that considerable differences existed…

Among 50 major U.S. universities, research shows that average salaries are higher at the highly rated institutions than at the lower rated ones, with senior professors being the chief beneficiaries. Within one institution, senior professors in higher ranked departments are better paid, compared to junior colleagues, than those of lower rated…

Most administrators approach program reduction as a budget issue; in reality, it is a governance and planning issue of major importance for the 1980s. Steps in a planning process for program discontinuance (including pitfalls) are described, based on a national study supported by the Exxon Foundation. (Author/LB)

A study at a research university on the relationship between faculty research productivity, specific instructional practices, and faculty-student contact found that faculty with strong research profiles did not avoid teaching low-level undergraduate courses, rely on lecture over active learning techniques, or use multiple-choice tests more often…

The public debate on the activities of college faculty is discussed, and a new, more policy-relevant approach to studying these activities is offered. The approach requires looking at faculty work activities as integrated and holistic, rather than fragmented, and describing faculty in a way that reflects the individualistic nature of faculty work.…