Agencies in at least a dozen states are seeking information about college faculty workload, including number of student contact hours, reflecting concern about faculty productivity and quality of undergraduate teaching. The issue is considered delicate, but both internal and external pressure to account for faculty time and salaries are mounting.…

This paper provides an overview of research that I have conducted during my career using data sets collected by offices of institutional research. Many of the examples discussed in the paper deal with graduate education. The paper illustrates how valuable the data collection efforts by these offices are to academic researchers interested in…

The Committee on Retirement of the American Association of University Professors initiated its first retirement policies survey in 2000 to address a lack of reliable and systematically collected information on retirement policies and practices across U.S. institutions of higher education. At the end of the 1990s, there was a sense that…

The 11 papers in this collection address research and theory in higher education. The papers are: (1) "Teaching, Learning, and Thinking about Teaching and Learning" (W.J. McKeachie); (2) "Costs and Productivity in Higher Education: Theory, Evidence, and Policy Implications" (Darrell R. Lewis and Halil Dunbar); (3) "Institutional Adaptation:…

Eighty-one summer school faculty (84 percent return) completed a questionnaire concerning a variety of issues about summer school. Salary and the adequacy of free time were seen as the main reasons for deciding to teach or not to teach summer school. Most faculty activity during the summer consisted of teaching (42 percent), research (25 percent),…

Misleading data reports concerning faculty pay and benefits have resulted from several errors: missing data, misleading data, misinterpreted data, and mistakes in data. Data will be understood only if examined in the context of institutional research, which takes into account the insights of the behavioral sciences. (CT)

Describes Portland State University's participation in the Urban Universities Portfolio Project, discussing how the partnership between institutional researchers and faculty members addressed important issues surrounding institutional mission and its relationship to planning, assessment, and accountability. (EV)

A variety of measurement, modeling, and forecasting methodologies can be adapted to academic staffing based on the unique role and function of faculty as human resources and the distinctive organizational characteristics of colleges and universities. (Author/MSE)

Applies segmented labor market theory to university faculties. Portrays college instructors who teach outside tenure or tenure-stream appointments as being in the external labor market. Examines the demographic characteristics, teaching load, level of remuneration, and commitment to research of these instructors. Relates within-profession…

Faculty are the critical labor element in the pursuit of the economic goals of the community colleges, yet they are not central to institutional decision-making. Their views and values are not consistent with the goals and actions of their colleges. Instead, these goals and actions are aligned with business and industry, directed by government and…

A study was undertaken at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) in New Jersey to establish a human resources development (HRD) utility role for the college's Office of Institutional Research (OIR). The study involved a search of current literature; a survey of OIRs at 14 New Jersey community colleges; interviews with 24 senior faculty members;…

The use of a robust statistical technique to implement a decentralized faculty allocation procedure at a medium size public university is discussed. The least median of squares (LMS), a regression technique introduced by Rousseeuw, was used instead of the usual least sum of squares, or least squares. The LMS technique was used to assist in the…

Sources of faculty discontent with university administration are discussed as background for a brief report of a case study. Evidence is raised against the usual arguments of university observers. A sample of faculty members at one institution were surveyed and appeared divided approximately in half regarding contentment and discontentment. Group…

A panel discusses the importance of mission-oriented research in a university relative to that of curiosity-based research. Discussants include Wes Cragg, John Leyerle, Gordon Slemon, David Olson, Jack Stevenson, and Bob Czerny. (CJB)

Research findings disclose the need for improvement of discrepancies discovered to exist between the role perceptions of faculty members and organizational goals of a Pennsylvania community college. Suggests the development of a sensitive screening instrument, or some means of educating faculty to the purposes of the 2-year college. (Author/JN)