A. Factors To Consider in Assessing Institutions

One of your most important decisions prior to beginning a job search is deciding on the type of academic institution in which you would like to work. Many types of academic institutions exist, and they differ in substantive ways. Institutions vary in the way they evaluate faculty performance. Most academic institutions have some form of a promotion and tenure process, which they use to evaluate and reward the performance of faculty members. Also, institutions may or may not have ethnic, women's, or comparative studies departments. Candidates should be aware of all of these factors in assessing institutions. Institutions vary in their fundamental missions.

1. Typical duties dictated by various types of institutions/programs

Faculty responsibilities and duties also vary based on differences in the institutional mission. If an institution stresses research and graduate training in its mission statement, expectations of faculty will include development of a program of research. Likewise, if undergraduate teaching or preparation of students for entry into a 4-year institution is stressed in the mission statement, faculty responsibilities will emphasize teaching or advising. A prospective candidate can find it informative to examine the institutional and departmental mission statements. The Carnegie rating of institutions may also be helpful in determining the foci of the institution. The following descriptions highlight the major responsibilities of faculty in various types of institutions.

a. Public and private doctoral-level research institutions

Faculty at this type of institution will probably serve as faculty to both graduate and undergraduate students. They are expected to teach courses, direct graduate student thesis and dissertation research, serve on university committees, provide community service, and develop a productive research program. Promotion and tenure decisions are typically based on successful research, teaching, and service (often weighted in that order). Some of these institutions also offer PsyD programs, which emphasize applied aspects of psychology more than research.

b. Professional schools of psychology

Faculty at these institutions typically teach in PhD and PsyD programs that focus on application of psychology in a variety of settings. These include clinical, research, program evaluation, intervention, and program demonstration settings. PhD programs are usually more research focused, whereas PsyD programs focus more on the applied aspects of psychology.

c. Four-year public or private institutions

These institutions focus on undergraduate education. There is less emphasis on research and more on teaching. Faculty are often responsible for teaching more classes than they would be at a research institution. Promotion and tenure decisions are based on teaching, advising, and service. Research and publications are increasingly emphasized in some of these institutions.

d. Two-year public or private institutions

Here, the emphasis is on teaching and advising students. The institutional focus is on preparing students either to enter the workplace or to continue on to a 4-year institution.

e. Ethnically concentrated institutions

These institutions (also known as Historically Black, Predominately Hispanic, and Tribal Colleges and Universities) began in reaction to the legal racial segregation of college and university campuses and the inability of people of color to obtain higher education degrees. Others evolved because of the ethnic concentrations of their student and community populations. These institutions generally offer 2- or 4-year and/or graduate degrees and often operate similarly to other public or private institutions but with a special focus on meeting the academic, social, research, and leadership needs of students and communities of color. This may be reflected in course content requirements (e.g., more multicultural material integrated throughout the curriculum), the availability of bilingual teaching, culturally sensitive teaching styles, and attention to nonmainstream cultural learning styles, and numerous opportunities for minority student mentoring and leadership.

f. Medical schools, schools of public health, and teaching hospitals

The emphasis in these institutions is on the training of medical students, psychiatric residents, psychology interns, and trainees from other mental health professions. Developing a successful research program is often also expected as is providing psychological services. The employment period may be a full 12-month year as opposed to the traditional academic 9-month period.

Grantsmanship tends to also be highly valued. In these institutions, salaries may be more negotiable and flexible than in other settings, and you should explore various salary options. You may also be able to enhance your salary through private practice, sometimes with space provided by the employer. In some situations, the psychologist is supporting the MD in getting his or her research program started. Nevertheless, these types of settings are more likely to allow you to be a member of a multidisciplinary team.

g. Ethnic, women's, and comparative studies departments

Ethnic, women's, and comparative study departments may exist within many of the above-listed types of institutions. These departments typically focus on multidisciplinary perspectives of specific cultural, ethnic, or gender groups. For example, a psychologist in such a department might teach a course on minority child development or do research on the psychology of women. A faculty member may have a full appointment to such a department or may have a joint appointment within the multidisciplinary department and the psychology department. If it is a joint appointment, be aware that this may mean you will have a heavier workload than that of a single departmental appointment, and possibly two differing sets of criteria for promotion, tenure, and salary increases.

2. Promotion and tenure models

Most promotion and tenure decisions are based on one of two models. In the traditional tenure model, promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor is usually linked with the granting of tenure. In this system, faculty members are typically reviewed in their fifth or sixth year for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. To obtain promotion and tenure, a candidate must be successful in the areas of research, teaching, and service. Tenure brings security and additional rights such as participation in promotion and tenure decisions. Achieving tenure guarantees a contract each year without the need for further review until the faculty member is eligible for promotion to full professor or unless circumstances require an additional review.

Another promotion and tenure model employs what is known as "rolling contracts." According to this system, an institution may offer a contract which is renewed every year for the following 2- or 3-year period. After a stipulated number of years, the institution may grant the faculty member a "rolling contract," which means that his or her contract is automatically renewed for 3-to-5 year periods, pending acceptable performance ratings. A positive aspect of this system is that it allows the individual more time for professional development than does the traditional "tenure clock."

Some institutions offer neither tenure nor rolling contracts. In these cases, the faculty member is typically rehired on a year-to-year basis. This type of evaluation system lacks the relative job security of tenure.

Once you understand the various models of performance evaluation and reward among institutions, you will be better prepared to make a decision about the type of environment in which you would function best.