Evaluating faculty work: expectations and standards of faculty performance in research universities

Abstract

Expectations and the way they are communicated can influence employees' motivation and performance. Previous research has demonstrated individual effects of workplace climate and individual differences on faculty productivity. The present study focused on the characteristics of institutional performance standards, evaluation processes and performance-responsive measures of academic departments in research universities, as articulated in institutional and departmental annual evaluation and promotion-tenure specifications. The faculty performance evaluation standards and review processes of 62 academic departments in 23 research universities in 13 US states were examined for clarity, consistency and performance-relevant elements. These characteristics were analysed through the lens of theories demonstrated as influential by previous workplace research. The similarities and differences of faculty performance standards, and the explicit and implicit messages they communicate, are discussed.

The contemporary academic: orientation towards research work and researcher identity of higher education lecturers in the health professions

“…The pattern of work areas appears to have developed somewhat since earlier studies of academic workload (Blaxter et al 1998). The lecturers feel different pressures from the higher education sector, from their professional field networks, from their institution and from their department, concerning research activity and researcher identity (Hardre & Cox 2009;Harley 2002). These pressures include contradictions, for example between spending time on teaching and supporting students rather than focusing on research qualifications and outputs.…”

Using Blogs and New Media in Academic Practice: Potential Roles in Research, Teaching, Learning, and Extension

“…This suggests that scholarship can occur in all areas of professorial work as well as outside of academia (Weiser and Houglum 1998). However, as Hardré and Cox (2009) have noted, systematic research on faculty work in institutions of higher education is not undertaken frequently; consequently, how broadly new media are being used by faculty members and the extent to which institutions recognize this use as a scholarly activity remain unclear.…”

Motivación Y Emoción en Música. Estado De La Cuestión Y Aportaciones Para La Innovación Educativa

“…Es por tanto, más que adecuado para el profesorado conocer los modos en los que sus alumnos se enfrentan a la actividad musical (Tabla 1) o a la música en general. Con respecto a lo último, Hargreaves (2012) Considera tres tipos de red, basados en las tres determinantes principales de respuestas a la música (Hargreaves, Hargreaves, & North, 2012). El primer tipo es el propio de las piezas musicales a nivel estructural propio de cada persona, teniendo gran importancia "todas las experiencias musicales anteriores de ese individuo, toda la música que ha escuchado, que se recoge y almacena en el cuerpo y la mente de esa persona" (Hargreaves et al, 2012, p. 198).…”

“…El segundo tipo, conecta las piezas de música con sus asociaciones culturales: situaciones típicas y contextos en los que se escuchan normalmente. En tercer lugar, las personas combinan sus redes de asociaciones musicales y culturales, incluyéndose aquí las asociaciones con personas, situaciones y eventos de sus vidas, por lo que son redes personales de asociación, sujetas a cambios frecuentes (Hargreaves, et al, 2012).…”

“…El segundo tipo, conecta las piezas de música con sus asociaciones culturales: situaciones típicas y contextos en los que se escuchan normalmente. En tercer lugar, las personas combinan sus redes de asociaciones musicales y culturales, incluyéndose aquí las asociaciones con personas, situaciones y eventos de sus vidas, por lo que son redes personales de asociación, sujetas a cambios frecuentes (Hargreaves, et al, 2012).La experiencia y la abstracción del conocimiento musical en un nivel básico no parecen desarrollarse, por tanto, en un canal de comunicación pasivo (Cross, 2004) un escenario mucho más rico y variado mediante acciones e interacciones participativas de todo tipo. Incluso la participación pasiva en la audición compromete la activación de regiones del cerebro que se vinculan al movimiento (Lakoff, & Johnson, 1999;Janata, & Grafton, 2003;).…”