Ending Mandatory Retirement for Tenured Faculty The Consequences for Higher Education (1991) / Chapter Skim
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3 FACULTY PERFORMANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY
3 FACULTY PERFORMANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY
Pages 49-66
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From page 49... ...
We also evaluate ways colleges and universities can mitigate negative effects on institutional quality and can positively influence individual faculty performance. These options include the use of performance evaluation in combination with actions ranging from administrative and peer feedback to dismissal of incom 49
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From page 50... ...
In one study, for example, older people scored lower on certain tests of creativity (Ruth and Birren, 1985~; however, people aged 25-35 differed from people aged 45-55 more than those aged 45-55 differed from those aged 65-75. Using a test measuring such skills as remembering an address or reasoning by analogy, a Harvard research team tested for cognitive decline in more than 1,000 healthy volunteer physicians.
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From page 51... ...
. Measuring Faculty Performance The above studies are related to general abilities rather than to the complex range of abilities that make up faculty quality.
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From page 52... ...
Over time, faculty come and go and departmental reputations rise and fall, prompting periodic reassessments and constant discussions of the relative quality of departments and institutions. Furthermore, measuring faculty quality, like measuring any quality, requires the exercise of values and judgment.
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From page 53... ...
found that faculty in their third to twelfth year of teaching earned the highest teaching ratings, but they did not test for differences among faculty with more than 12 years of experience. Since most studies of the relationship between teaching ability and age are based on student ratings of faculty at one or two institutions, the number of faculty in an age group, particularly the oldest age groups, is so small that an individual exception could mask a trend.
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From page 54... ...
Regression analyses of data on approximately 2,000 tenured arts and science faculty in a 1989 Carnegie Foundation survey show an inverse correlation between faculty age and number of professional writings published or accepted for publication over the preceding 2 years. A1though older faculty on average published fewer writings than younger faculty, in the sciences and humanities the difference between the average number of writings published by a group of faculty at one age and the number of writings published by the group of faculty 1 year older decreases as age increases (Howe and Smith, 1990: 19~: It should be emphasized that these findings do not suggest that research activity ceases as the faculty member approaches the current mandatory retirement age.
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From page 55... ...
Finally, it must be acknowledged that a decline in Me probability of grant support with age, may, in part, reflect age discrimination by the funding institutions and not be wholly attributable to a decline in either research activity or research quality wide age. The National Science Foundation does not keep information on the age of
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From page 56... ...
However, when the data are divided into 5-year age groups, the probabilities for applicants over 50 do not show a clear or steady trend of decline with age. The committee obtained NIH data on numbers of research grant holders by date of birth for 1987 and 1989, reported in Table 5.
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From page 57... ...
For example, a study of male faculty from 12 midwestern liberal arts colleges, at career stages ranging from new assistant professors to "full professors within five years of formal retirement" found that self-reported "comfortableness with teaching" increased for each succeeding career group, while comfortableness with research and scholarship was lowest for full professors (Baldwin and Blackburn, 1981:605~. The 1989 Carnegie Foundation survey of faculty found the percentage of faculty identifying their interests as "primarily in research" or"leaning toward research" was highest for faculty under age 40 and lowest for faculty aged 60-64, while the percentages of faculty interested"pnmanly in teaching" showed the reverse trend.
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From page 58... ...
The committee believes many of these cases have been mistakenly attributed to inevitable age-related declines. Therefore, in the next section we address ways faculty and administrators can respond to declining faculty performance.
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From page 59... ...
Definitions of effectiveness are subjective and vary over time. It would be possible to improve the reliability and validity of existing performance appraisal measures, but one comprehensive review of the research literature on performance appraisal in industry and government concluded that in the case of appraising federal managers, "vast human and financial resources" would be required to develop performance appraisal instruments meeting "the strictest challenges of measurement science." Instead, the committee concluded that for most ~.~1 ~^r~r=rn~r~t A-^ic~innc!
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From page 60... ...
Regardless of its use, formal evaluation of tenured faculty remains controversial. When the National Commission on Higher Education Issues recommended formal evaluation of tenured faculty, Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure (American Association of University Professors, 1983:14a)
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From page 61... ...
Another case study research university has just implemented a similar procedure, with the stipulation that at least three senior faculty members advise the chair or dean of a department in assessing an individual's performance and in developing a plan for improvement if the individual disagrees with the chair's initial assessment. Formal and regular evaluation processes require commitment on the part of both faculty and administrators.
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From page 62... ...
A committee of faculty and administrators reviewing the need for evaluation procedures for one division of a state university suggested a lower standard of research productivity for faculty who are serving in administrative positions or who have just completed administrative service (Faculty Development and Renewal Subcommittee, 1987~. Colleges and universities can seek to maintain overall faculty quality by assigning faculty members, when possible, in ways that meet institutional needs.
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From page 63... ...
The committee concludes that faculty performance evaluation can be a useful tool for maintaining and improving faculty quality, particularly when administrators and faculty use it to provide faculty with feedback on their performance. The committee recommends that faculty and administrators at all colleges and universities work to develop ways to offer faculty feedback on their performance.
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From page 64... ...
Moreover, if colleges and universities began to hire faculty under contracts with a fixed term instead of tenure, regular contract renewals could require more regular faculty performance appraisal; disproportionate nonrenewal of the contracts of older faculty would raise questions of age discrimination (Finkin, 1989~. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in institutions of higher educationas in business or other organizations-administrators can take steps leading to the resignation or retirement of a nonperforming employee without completing a formal dismissal procedure.
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From page 65... ...
Since review by colleagues is the traditional basis for judging faculty quality, performance appraisals for dismissal also usually include peer review. Due process requires that administrators give to an individual considered for dismissal notice and opportunities to respond, in some cases including opportunities for improvement and development during a probationary period prior to the beginning of formal dismissal procedures (Morris, 1990~.
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From page 66... ...
In the first instance, an increase in the number of faculty over age 70 or, more generally, an increase in the average age of faculty does not necessarily affect institutional quality. Studies of the relationship between age and cognitive abilities, teaching ratings, and research activity suggest faculty can continue to perform well in their 70s and that there are variations in performance among faculty of any age.
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