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…

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…

Although faculty are an important part of collecting, analyzing, and using student learning data for improvement, significant barriers often prevent faculty from being involved in assessment work outside the classroom. One potential obstacle to faculty involvement in assessment is the misalignment between the work and faculty rewards structures.…

A Delphi method was used with a panel of 24 African American faculty employed at 43 predominantly white doctoral extensive universities to arrive at a group consensus on a list of concerns that African American faculty in general experienced or held. Using the Delphi method a panel of African American faculty initially worked from a list of eight…

In a modern context of constrained resources and high demands, faculty exert agency to strategically navigate their careers (Baez 2000a; Neumann et al. 2006). Guided by the O'Meara et al. (2011) framework on agency in faculty professional lives, this study used Structural Equation Modeling to investigate which departmental factors…

The central aim of the present study was to examine the levels of job satisfaction among accounting and finance academics in Irish higher education institutions. Additionally, this research sought to uncover the factors linked to the overall job satisfaction of these teachers. The findings showed that while, participants were generally satisfied…

Outlines responsibilities of an English department chairperson in many areas, including writing promotion and tenure recommendations, explaining the department's activities to the administration, creating and maintaining an effective environment, creating a sense of individual dignity and worth among faculty members, developing a sense of…

This study of rewards and recognition in the mathematical sciences in higher education utilized data gathered from site visits to 26 institutions, 3 open forums, and a survey of a sample of faculty and department chairs in mathematical sciences departments. Results found: (1) a substantial gap between what faculty think the reward structure should…

A study examined college faculty (n=485) perceptions about the role the department head should and does play in awarding of tenure. Of 19 roles played by department heads, 13 were seen by respondents as facilitating tenure acquisition. Almost half of those roles were administrative; research roles were also seen as important. (MSE)

When asked what activities contributed most to promotion to higher academic rank, faculty in a large midwestern medical school perceived research as the single most important activity. Department chairmen, however, included teaching, patient care, and administration/service as well. Clearly stated promotion criteria are recommended. (MSE)

This study examined the relationship between organizational form and faculty behavior for biotechnology faculty in research universities. In particular the study looked at the perceptions and role of nondepartmental organized research units as compared to the more traditional university structures of discipline rank, tenure status,and…

A survey of 197 pharmacy school faculty members found the faculty evaluation criteria deemed most important in promotion and tenure decisions included refereed publications, extramural funding, the department head's evaluation, and invited scholarly presentations. Respondents expressed a desire to have more importance placed on other aspects of…

The duties, problems, compensation, and selection procedures of department chairmen in secondary schools need to be clarified. Present duties of an English department chairman include developing an educational philosophy and curriculum for the department; suggesting materials and teaching methods; protecting teacher welfare; working with all…