A national survey of baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs concerning tenure policy and practices provides information about institutional tenure criteria and predictors of tenure award. (MSE)

A junior faculty member reflects on the dilemma of that professional position, noting that its anxieties fall into two categories: "Is this all there is?" and "What if we lose it?" She examines problems with, and prohibitions against, speaking one's mind in that position, sees solutions as being institutional or individual, and examines how…

Current university tenure and promotion criteria are examined critically, and it is suggested that they are both an effect and a source of gender bias. Current working assumptions regarding what constitutes good research, teaching, and service and the relative importance of each reflect and perpetuate masculine values and practices, preventing…

Using data from previous comprehensive studies of incentive pay plans, this report draws conclusions about assessing and implementing various incentive pay plans. Following a brief history of incentive pay plans from 1908 to 1983, an analysis of accumulated research is provided that shows the reasons why incentive pay plans for teachers have…

The philosophy, operations, and applications of the Eastern Washington University Department of Education Merit Pay System are described. The system is designed to: eliminate arbitrary assessments, reward desired behaviors, award merit pay to those achieving designated goals, individualize rewards, encourage cooperation, and simplify evaluative…

The views of 1,105 faculty members at seven diverse colleges and universities relating to pay-promotion criteria were surveyed. In addition, the parallel-perceptions inquiry enabled comparison of the views of 36 Harcum Junior College faculty and those of 1,069 faculty representing large, medium, and small colleges, both public and private.…

Issues concerning tenure of college faculty and the application of tenure policies on campuses are considered. Tenure decisions typically reflect evaluations of performance and judgments about potential. Minimum eligibility requirements commonly used and typical reasons for revoking an individual's tenure status are outlined. As defined by the…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) survey of faculty procedures determines the nature and extent of faculty evaluation programs in the South. The president of each college was sent a copy of a questionnaire designed to provide data on existing policies, practices, and criteria for faculty evaluation. One of the most noticable aspects of…

Increased pressures continue on faculty in higher education as expressed by faculty workload and faculty activity analysis. Often those who collect and utilize such data do not consider the outcomes of decisions from the faculty viewpoint. Examined are how the uses of certain faculty load data and faculty activity analysis data place pressures and…

A wide variety of individual and contextual factors, within and outside institutional control, can affect faculty research performance. These collective factors, the research culture, include policies and practices affecting recruitment, workload, evaluation, collegial communication, leadership, and structure. (MSE)

Research on variables that may bias student ratings of faculty have found them generally insignificant, but students do rate differently by academic field. The real problem arises from not knowing why this occurs. Institutions and individuals should decide how they will take these differences into consideration when interpreting student ratings.…

A discussion of faculty tenure focuses on the system used at Colby College (Maine). Policies and practices are described, with attention given to the four evaluations made before tenure is awarded, efforts to ensure instructional quality and research productivity after the tenure decision, and the balance of teaching and scholarship in the faculty…

This working paper, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, explores what is known about campus initiatives with post-tenure review. Part 1 reviews institutional and systemwide policies and outlines operational characteristics, unifying principles, and implementation strategies. The information was gathered from published…

A guide to faculty evaluation is presented for use as the content for an institutional workshop or for use by individual faculty or administrators for their professional development in the area of evaluation. Purposes of evaluation include: providing a basis to recognize superior performance and to offer faculty development activities, providing…

The use of arbitration to resolve faculty appointment, retention, promotion, and tenure disputes is addressed, based on a review of specific university arbitration decisions. The arbitration literature reveals that faculty employment status decisions are made almost exclusively with reference to academic judgment. Attributes that are frequently…