Frustrated students often scoff at professors who lag in givingback graded assignments.
Most students recognize that professors have lives that extendoutside the classroom. Yet, many are unaware of the pressures thatprofessors face as the standards for tenure increase. This isespecially true for junior faculty across the nation.
Educators are saying that tenure track professors are expected toproduce more published material than in the past and more frequently.According to Ann Johns, at the Center for Teaching and Learning, “ifyou are hired on the tenure track you have seven years to demonstratethat you are qualified for promotion and that means you have topublish.”
At some colleges and universities across the nation, professorsare saying that shift has come at the expense of teaching.
Publishing is just one of the three expectations that faculty mustmeet in order to receive tenure. Those three areas include teachereffectiveness, professional growth and service. Although each of theareas are important, it is the professional growth that all teachersare expected to accomplish. A professor who has published nothingwill not receive tenure.
According to the campus California Faculty Association PresidentRolf Schulze, the old adage “publish or perish” is accurate todescribe the current tenure process.
“Some people love to publish and other people are better atteaching, but they are all forced into cranking out articles andbooks,” he said. “The publication explosion is just unbelievable.”
This is also the most difficult task to accomplish because thisforces the professor to do a considerable amount of research outsidethe classroom, Johns said.
It is also difficult because the process to get published issomewhat complicated.
“It may take a year or two to do the research and writing and itmay take a year or two to get it published,” said Susan Moss, in theOffice of Diversity and Equity.
It is also important for faculty to publish in certain journals.According to Johns, a professor must be certain to choose prestigiousjournals, where the rejection rates can be 90 percent.
Tenure also proves to be a difficult task for professors becauseonce they are reviewed for tenure, they must endure a six-levelreview. During the review in the professor’s final year on tenuretrack, they must first be reviewed by their department. This involvesevaluations by both their peers and previous student evaluations.
These reviews are followed-up by the department chair, a collegecommittee, the dean of the college, a university committee and afinal review by Provost Nancy Marlin.
The process proves to be a more difficult one for junior faculty.As a result, the university has attempted to provide support, saidPat Huckle, a former member of the University Tenure and PromotionsCommittee.
“When people come here, if they are coming off the Ph.D programthey will be brand new, so the first year is very hard,” Huckle said.
Some departments are very good at helping junior facultypersonally and professionally, she said. Most departments recognizethat they must pay attention to the junior faculty.
According to junior faculty member Shelli McAlpine, the tenureprocess is not that demanding. Her main concerns stem around theability to speak freely for those who do not have tenure.
“The main problem is that you really can’t be as assertive aboutgetting things done because you might hurt someone’s feelings and younever know how that might effect your tenure,” she said. “There is alot of pressure to not rock the boat.”
