Educator's Perception Of Tenure
Introduction to the concepts
According to the purpose statement, the purpose of the designed study is to use a mixed-methods approach to investigate the underlying perceptions of university professors with particular emphasis on three areas of analysis as follows: (1) Issues related to tenure and post-tenure review; (2) Cultural resistance or enthusiasm towards various implementations; and (3) Organizational effectiveness in current strategies for handling tenure and post-tenure reviews. Ultimately the researcher's goal is to gather empirical evidence related to perceptions of tenure and organizational effectiveness in order to inform policy makers and others important to making decisions about tenure and post-tenure review for an institution.
Academic tenure is offered typically to only those faculty or associate faculty in the most senior positions with strong track records in teaching, research, and/or administrative/executive roles (Joughlin, 1969). Generally, tenure is offered only when rigorous criteria are met as defined by tenure system of a given academic institution (Amacher, 2004). These tenure systems exist as internal policies and mechanisms for both offering/attaining and evaluating/maintaining tenure performance, the latter of which is generally more controversial and less often subjected to scrutiny (Wood & Johnsrud, 2005; Roepnack & Lewis, 2007; Green, 2008; Allen, 2000; Scheuerman, 1997).
Most institutions require a minimum number of years and minimum caliber of experience and notoriety before tenure is even considered plus whatever subjective components an institution wants to instill to ensure the integrity of tenure (in their administrative perspective) (Amacher; Joughlin). Academic tenure is mostly about rights to both academic freedom and job security, both highly desirable for both educators and academic researchers. Tenure systems also offer institutions a certain level of economic advantage because they can attract highly talented and well-renowned...
This denotes that different perceptions of tenure are produced by different statuses and tenure opportunities amongst personnel. The present research question is designed to yield a discussion on how these differing perceptions may impact the effectiveness of an organization. This will require examination of matters such as the impact of hierarchy and the quality differentials between tenured or tenure-track professors and part-time, non-tenure track or adjunct professors. 5. Does tenure
In taking the approach that improvement in these areas can be achieved by establishing some form of post-tenure review, institutions are sending the signal that the blame for school-wide failures falls upon the teachers. A failure on the part of the institution to take this responsibility and the eroding of its confidence in its teachers promotes a deeply unhealthy context for academic freedom or creativity. This is to say that
Indeed, regardless of how the discussion is framed, this power struggle between administrators and educators remains a constant and relevant force. Still, some research comes to support this idea that tenure helps to promote inequality across certain lines. For instance, Evans et al. (2008) remark on the gender and race lines that permeate the educational hierarchy. According to Evans et al., "sixteen percent of faculty in undergraduate and graduate
" (Zemsky, 1) Null Hypothesis The null hypothesis of the research endeavor is that online professors will report no perceptible connection between post-tenure review and job performance. Alternate Hypothesis The alternate hypothesis of the research endeavor is that online professors will report that post-tenure review improves job performance. Nature of the Study Significance of the Study The significance of the proposed research is based in the need for greater study of online instruction in higher education with
Allen makes the case that this functions to improve the quality of higher education and the experience had by the student. Like Scheuerman, Allen argues that tenure is under attack for reasons other than the perceived erosion of educational quality, but makes a more direct case against administrators and public officials by arguing that tenure is actually attacked as a matter of posturing for control over the work of
This wide array of data strands could then be manipulated to measure the veracity of the philosophical claims informing our qualitative argument. Envisioned Analysis: The analysis which is envisioned as a way to address the available datasets is provided for by Creswell & Plano-Clark (2007), who denote that data-mixing is a valuable way to determine whether or not variables possess meaningful relationships with one another. According to the text by Creswell
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