In This Issue Current Issue Archives

September 2004

Academic Leader September 2004 full issue PDF
…

Ensuring Fairness, Faculty Trust in Promotion and Tenure Practices
By Mark E. Workman, Ph.D.
In the tenure and promotion case study presented in their book Complexities of Higher Education Administration, Mary Lou Higgerson and Susan S. Rehwaldt effectively summarize the expectations that commonly pertain to teaching, scholarship, and service; the manner in which candidates typically document their accomplishments in these areas; and the review procedures that institutions employ in measuring the fit between standards and achievement. What the authors suggest is that broad dissemination of such policies to all participants in the tenure and promotion process and a “common format for representing the supporting information” that candidates present to justify their worthiness for tenure or promotion “will help assure fairness in the decision-making process.”

Faculty Involvement in the Scholarship of Teaching
Recently a national survey of 1,424 faculty members at five types of colleges and universities and from four different disciplines was completed to ascertain the extent to which Boyer’s notions of scholarship, have been institutionalized. And if so, whether they are being done at one kind of institution more than another, by some disciplines more than others, or by some kinds

What Factors Create Conflict in Academic Departments?
Promotion and tenure decisions can have long-lasting effects on a department and can be sources of conflict.

What is an Honors Course?
By Cheryl Achterberg, Ph.D.
Honors programs are found in the majority of four-year higher education institutions across the country, as well as many community colleges. Many are new within the last 10 years. When teaching assignments are made, neither department heads nor course instructors may know what is expected of an honors course. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the ideal structure, content, and pedagogy of an honors course.

Leadership Style and Perceived Effectiveness
Ideally, faculty perceive department chairs as being effective in their four major roles — leader, scholar, faculty developer, and manager. But how much of that perception is based on the chair’s communication and leadership styles?

Bulletin Board
Legal Issues in Higher Education; Competing Conceptions of Academic Governance; Diversity Directory; Contract Law and Student Issues; Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education; Campus Progress: Supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; How to Write a Grant Proposal

Seven Strategies for Getting Faculty Buy-in on Distance Education Efforts
The following are strategies for enabling faculty involvement in distance education. They were proposed by Scott Howell, assistant to the dean in the division of continuing education at Brigham Young University, Farhad Saba, professor of educational technology at San Diego State University, Nathan Lindsay, a doctoral student in higher education at the University of Michigan’s school of education, and Peter Williams, a doctoral student in instructional psychology and technology at BYU:

From Cellblock to Classroom: The Transition from Helpless to Helpful
By Michael Pittaro
After working for the Department of Corrections for 15 years, first as a counselor of young offenders and later as a supervisor of a prison pre-release program, I decided it was time for a change. The negativity of the correctional environment had taken its toll: I had become jaded about a system that was supposed to rehabilitate, educate, and “correct” our criminal offender population. I grew angry about the unethical and dishonest correctional practices I witnessed daily. This, coupled with long hours, broken promises, and budgetary cutbacks led to a continuous cycle of desperation and despair. My creative and innovative ideas had been repeatedly discarded because of the old prison adage, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”