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 relation to post tenure review. As with all other elements of this research process, we can initiate a discussion on the significance of the research with a reiteration of the fact that amongst educators without classification, the perspective on post-tenure review is generally hostile. This is because tenure is considered by most educators to be an important feature of the profession demanding of protection. To this end, Ceci et al. (2006) indicate that "despite the modest pay and long probationary period, in those countries that still award tenure, once a scholar achieves this rank, his or her professional life can seem to be set. Because such security is uncommon among professionals, those who have tenure jealously guard it against proposals to limit its scope." (Ceci et al., 553) and yet, the concept remains very much under attack by such policies as post-tenure review, which professors regard as a threat to the stability earned by length of stay.
Entering into the proposed research, we proceed with the view that the vast majority of traditional educators view post-tenure review negatively, assessing that this policy interferes with creativity, academic freedom and curricular flexibility. The significance of the proposed research would be in determining whether this same consensus exists amongst professors working primarily through the online medium. This is of value because it offers another perspective on an issue which is subject to widespread disagreement and empirical uncertainty. By measuring the perspective of those teaching through online media, we anticipate gaining an alternate educator perspective which yet confirms the sentiment of traditional educators concerning the negative impact of post-tenure review.
Definitions:
As noted by the research proposal, the central problem of the research process is an uncertainty over the impact of post-tenure review on the job performance of online university professors. This problem contributes to the primary purpose of the proposed research, which is to prove that online professors view post-tenure review as a negative policy which attacks the security provided by tenure without achieving any significant gains in the areas of job performance or quality of education. These two statements provide us with a set of key terms which require definition within the specific context of the proposed research. Several biases in defining these terms will be observable and are specific with assumptions made throughout the research process. These biases do not prevent findings of the research from diverging from said assumptions.
Tenure
Tenure is the status which is rewarded to professional educators once they have achieved a certain length of stay in a position; have marked certain professional qualifications; and have thus been deemed qualified for a condition of long-term job security. Within the context of the study, tenure is seed positively as a necessary feature of the educational professional Helms et al. (2001) contribute to this perspective, noting that "tenure has traditionally been in place to reward senior faculty so they may be innovative, controversial, and use their time to mentor to junior faculty or take an active role in university governance and community initiatives." (Helms et al., 2001, p. 322) the research proceeds from the view that these are appropriate opportunities to avail to educators as a way of always improving their professional qualifications.
Post-Tenure Review
From the perspective of this research, and preceded by the critical article by Buck (2007), post-tenure review is a performance monitoring procedure applied to educators who have earned tenure designed almost explicitly to undermine the values and goals of tenure. The job security, academic freedom and political autonomy afforded by tenure are subverted by a process which is inherently intended to identify negative byproducts of the tenure practice. As a result, post-tenure review is discredited in much research and in the discourse of educational professionals, with both arguing that post-tenure review is simultaneously a threat to academic freedom which damages the flexibility and morale of educators and that the practice leads to a number of negative unintended consequences which suggest that it implementation is flawed.
This refers to Higher Education professionals who engage their subjects through the web-medium. This is not otherwise constrained by any limitations to definition. Such is to say that "teaching, service and scholarship are complex, multidimensional activities. Teaching responsibilities in graduate schools of social work my involve traditional classroom instruction as well as student advising, computerized distance-learning instruction, field instruction, the...
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
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
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
If [these] postulates are correct, there very well could be an economic incentive for public authorities (i.e. states) to create post-tenure review and other methods to avoid such employment rights." (Dilts et al., 335) This is a new insight on the subject, producing a clearer understanding of the political battle being waged between educators and those administrative and governmental forces that have sought a change in employment policies. And in
Tenure The Wood and De Jarlais study of 2006 set out to accomplish three objectives. Those three objectives as stated by the study were to: (1) to provide assurance to the University and its constituents that professional resources and particular areas of expertise are being used to the best advantage; (2) to provide for the systematic recognition of excellence and develop incentives for superior performance; and (3) to provide means for
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
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