The rules for earning tenure are different at smaller institutions

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

Randolph Smith, PhD, was a typical psychology graduate student: His entire world centered on research. During his doctoral years at Texas Tech University, he thought of little else besides statistical analyses of human learning and memory.

But his research mind-set changed suddenly when he took his first job at a small liberal arts college. Smith moved from brawny Texas Tech to tiny Ouachita Baptist University, a school of 1,200 students in the southern college town of Arkadelphia, Ark. It wasn?t that he had less work now. Rather, the work was different.

'Suddenly I had a heavy teaching load of 12 hours a semester and I couldn?t keep up in my research area,' says Smith. 'I realized I?d have to make some changes in my priorities.'

Obviously Smith successfully made the adjustment because he?s still at Ouachita 20 years later and now serves as its psychology chair. But the school?s expectations for tenure and promotion differed markedly from those at a research institution, and they took some getting used to.

Culture shock

Most liberal arts colleges don?t have the publish-or-perish orientation of a large research institution, says Smith, who edits the journal Teaching of Psychology for APA?s Div. 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology). Typically a research university clearly defines the criteria for tenure as scholarly research and publication, teaching and service, usually in that order. By comparison, a liberal arts college tends to define promotion parameters more loosely, leaving more work choice up to faculty, says Smith.

'You don?t have someone telling you exactly what you should and shouldn?t do to get tenure,' says Smith. 'The flip side of that is, it?s hard to know what?s expected of you at first.'

Reflecting on his initial greenness at Ouachita, Smith says he simply wasn?t prepared for the enormous teaching emphasis there. He knew he?d be teaching more, but he didn?t realize how much.

Smith stayed on at Ouachita because he enjoys teaching.

But traditional research programs often fail to adequately prepare students for colleges with a teaching emphasis, says Cynthia Gray, PhD, a beginning faculty member hired in August by Alverno College, an adult-oriented school of 2,400 in inner-city Milwaukee. 'There?s definitely some culture shock at first,' says Gray, who studied auditory perception in starlings during her years as a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University.

At a research university, you focus on research quality, expanding the research base in your area and attracting grant money. Some small colleges, such as Davidson, Pomona, Williams and Swarthmore Colleges, also emphasize research scholarship because teaching loads are lighter than at most small colleges, and faculty have more time for research.

Typically though, small liberal arts colleges focus on communicating knowledge effectively to students, Gray says. Research scholarship is still important, but it?s more campus, community and student oriented. You?re involving students in your research and supporting their research projects, or you?re expanding the research knowledge base in teaching and learning.

Gray, for example, has traded in her starling studies for research on theories of adult education and their implications for classroom practice. Meanwhile she?s adjusting to the teaching load of 12 hours a semester, which can be as high as 15 hours a semester at liberal arts colleges, although the classes are usually small. Teaching loads are lighter at research universities, but undergraduate classes can number in the hundreds.

The campus community

In addition to teaching, many small colleges underscore the importance of 'service.' Briefly defined, service means contributing to student, faculty and community development, says Thomas Pusateri, PhD, membership chair for Div. 2 and a psychology professor at Loras College, a Catholic school of 1,700 students in Dubuque, Iowa. Valued service activities include advising students? organizations, serving on faculty committees and organizing seminars.

Writing articles and speaking at conferences count as service at some universities and scholarship at others. To meet his service requirements, Pusateri has helped develop campuswide projects to improve teaching and writing and assess the development of students? academic skills.

Securing tenure

Projects such as Pusateri?s show a firm commitment to service and teaching?the kind of evidence most liberal arts colleges look for in tenure and promotion decisions. Most liberal arts institutions consider faculty for tenure after five or six years.

At that point tenure committees want you to prove that you?re tenure material, says G. William Hill, PhD, former chair of the psychology department at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. How do you make yourself look good? Based on presentations he?s given at teaching conferences, Hill proposes a list of 'dos':

? Consult a faculty handbook for information about criteria for tenure and promotion of faculty?Many colleges list different expectations for assistant, associate and full professors.

? Find a mentor?Some universities assign mentors, but that doesn?t work if people don?t 'click' with each other. Hill recommends scouting for someone you?re comfortable with. 'It?s sort of like choosing a therapist,' he says.

? Join committees?Success at a small institution depends largely on being visible to others. Be assertive in seeking spots on institutional or departmental committees because the more committees you join, the more other faculty will know you. Often the people you serve with on the master?s education committee or the curriculum development committee are the same people who evaluate you for tenure.

? Develop a portfolio?Document the activities you use in class, gather together your course syllabi and highlight any work you?ve done to promote teaching. Hill, for example, has organized a Kennesaw-based conference for undergraduate teaching of psychology and has helped develop teaching effectiveness measures. Also include student and peer evaluations of your teaching in the portfolio, as well as records of your research scholarship and committee and community service.

? Gear yourself for interdisciplinary teamwork?When Hill arrived at Kennesaw State in 1979, he shared an office with a geographer, a political scientist and two sociologists. The college has since grown and added a psychology department, but its faculty committees still include people from a range of disciplines?a considerable difference from research universities where many committees involve faculty from the same discipline.

'At first it was a shock to be interacting so much with other disciplines,' says Hill. 'Soon it became a pleasure, though. It creates a feeling of community and support that?s unique to a liberal arts institution.'