Working Paper No. 20
The Status of Faculty Professional Service and Academic Outreach in New Englandviewing and Renewing General Education

Sharon Singleton, Cathy Burack, Deborah Hirsch

Abstract

 In 1994 the New England Resource Center for Higher Education surveyed New England colleges and universities about the professional service faculty are engaging in, and the policies and structures that support such activities.  Information was obtained from 120 institutions.  As seen through a wide lens, there is considerable institutional commitment to faculty professional service. A majority of respondents reported that service is both a stated part of their institutional mission and that faculty, administrators and staff supported that commitment. However, a sharper focus reveals a gap between statements and practice:  only a third of the respondents were able to demonstrate that commitment through either an office or individual charged with overseeing service initiatives or use of explicit criteria to evaluate professional service in promotion and tenure decisions.  Results varied by institutional type, with public four-year institutions reporting higher levels of commitment and support for faculty professional service than either private four-year institutions or two-year colleges.

Summer 1997

 

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