Understanding Faculty Productivity

"An invaluable resource for any college and university striving tomeet the National Cost Commission's call to make what colleges doand what it costs more 'transparent' to the public."
--Jacqueline E. King, director, federal policy analysis, AmericanCouncil on Education

Defining and measuring faculty productivity are among the mostcentral issues for quality and accountability in higher education.Known for assembling some of the most authoritative research onfaculty productivity--and for analyzing its impact on academic andinstitutional accountability--Michael F. Middaugh presents thiscomprehensive volume to help campus professionals build greateraccountability for students, parents, foundations, governmentalorganizations, and other concerned constituents. Middaugh firstdraws from a research study funded by TIAA-CREF's CooperativeResearch Grant Program and the Fund for Postsecondary Educationwithin the U.S. Department of Education. He then provides a newframework for analyzing faculty efficiency and emphasizes how theresults of faculty work can become the best indicators ofproductivity. He also applies the joint study findings to the taskof developing benchmarks for faculty productivity. Practitionersfrom any type of campus will find a rich array of data, valuablerecommendations, and relevant examples.

Preface xv

The Author xxi

1 Defining Faculty Productivity 1

2 Responding to Public Pressure for Systematic Accountability 25

3 A Quantitative Perspective on Productivity and Accountability 53

4 Measuring Productivity: What About Quality? 80

5 Laying the Groundwork for Dependable Productivity Benchmarks 91

6 Using Quantitative Benchmarking Data 124

7 Establishing Qualitative Benchmarks in Individual Departments 149

8 Looking to the Future 157

Appendix A: Delaware Study Definitions and Conventions 165

Appendix B: Delaware Study Benchmarks for Typical Academic Departments 175

Appendix C: Participants in the Delaware Study 216

References 225

Supplementary Readings 227

Index 229

MICHAEL F. MIDDAUGH lives in Wilmington, Delaware and serves as Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research & Planning at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. He received his doctoral degree in Education at SUNY Albany. Dr. Middaugh has authored and co-authored two books on institutional research and written numerous articles and book chapters on topics in planning and research, including assessing faculty productivity. Defining and measuring faculty productivity are among the most central issues for quality and accountability in higher education. Known for assembling some of the most authoritative research on faculty productivity--and for analyzing its impact on academic and institutional accountability--Michael F. Middaugh presents this comprehensive volume to help campus professionals build greater accountability for students, parents, foundations, governmental organizations, and other concerned constituents. He first draws from a research study funded by TIAA-CREF's Cooperative Research Grant Program and the Fund for Postsecondary Education within the U.S. Department of Education. He then provides a new framework for analyzing faculty efficiency and emphasizes how the results of faculty work can become the best indicators of productivity. He also applies the joint study findings to the task of developing benchmarks for faculty productivity. Practitioners from any type of campus will find a rich array of data, valuable recommAndations, and relevant examples.