A national study examining the impact of SEVIS on international student and scholar advisors

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is having on the professional worklives of international student and scholar advisors (ISSAs) on U.S. college and university campuses. ISSAs are clearly satisfied with their work and hold their institutions in high regard. However, SEVIS is having a profound effect on their morale, satisfaction, and their likelihood to leave the field. That is, SEVIS (i.e., reporting, training, time) and the quality of worklife (i.e., professional activities and career development, recognition for competence and their expertise, external and intra-department relationships, perceptions of discrimination) are important to ISSAs, and thus have a strong effect on their level of satisfaction and/or morale, and their subsequent intentions to stay or leave their career/profession.     

A national study on midlevel leaders in higher education: The unsung professionals in the academy

A national study was conducted toexamine the quality of midlevel leaders'worklife, satisfaction, morale and theirintentions to leave. The study included 4,000midlevel leaders who were randomly selectedfrom a total national population of 11,300 fromboth public and private institutions withinfive Carnegie classifications (e.g.,Doctoral/research-extensives and intensives,Baccalaureate generals and Liberal arts) acrossthe United States. Three separate mailingsyielded 2,000 responses for a 50 percent returnrate and 1966 useable surveys. Midlevel leadersare defined as academic or non-academic supportpersonnel within the structure of highereducation organizations (e.g., directors andcoordinators of admissions, institutionalresearch, registrars, computing and technology,human resources, alumni affairs, studentaffairs, placement and counseling services,financial aid, development and planned giving).This national study proposes: (1) to examinethose demographic characteristics and worklifeissues that may have an impact on theperceptions of midlevel leaders' morale,satisfaction and intent to leave; and (2) todemonstrate the role satisfaction and moralehas on midlevel leaders' intentions to stay orleave their current position or career. Thefindings indicate that individual perceptionsof midlevel leaders' professional andinstitutional worklife are powerful variablesthat have an impact on their satisfaction,morale, and turnover intentions.     

FACULTY WORKLIFE: Establishing Benchmarks Across Groups

Pressures on colleges and universities have spawned numerous studies to improve our understanding of faculty and their worklives, including examinations of faculty satisfaction, morale, motivation and productivity, reward, and retention and turnover. In response to external pressures for improved accountability in higher education, institutional leaders seek to identify outcome measures and generate benchmarks that can be used to assess change over time. The purpose of this study is to propose a structural model of faculty worklife and to test its generalizability by examining possible differences in the model across three cross-sectional samples of probationary faculty at a major research university. Identified trends in faculty perceptions about their worklife over time can be used as benchmarks to aid institutions in retaining faculty by monitoring and improving aspects of their worklives.     

A causal model of faculty turnover intentions

A causal model is proposed and estimated to assess the relative influence of individual attributes, institutional characteristics, contextual-work environment variables, and multiple measures of job satisfaction on the intentions of faculty to leave their current institutions. Special attention is given to similarities and differences among variables in the model for tenured and untenured faculty. Regardless of tenure status, younger faculty, those at institutions that have experienced decline and that have more autocratic forms of governance, and those that have lower levels of organizational and career satisfaction are more likely to leave their institutions. Being a male, spending more time on research, and having a stronger record of scholarly productivity are positive influences on the intentions of tenured faculty to leave their institution, while salary satisfaction is an influential variable only for nontenured faculty. The research and policy implications of these findings are discussed. Source of data: Carnegie Surveys of Undergraduates and Faculty. Copyright 1985, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1985.     

Measuring The Change in Faculty Perceptions Over Time: An Examination of Their Worklife and Satisfaction

In this study, a two-group structural equation model was proposed and tested to investigate the change in faculty members perceptions of their worklife and satisfaction over time. Using the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty [i.e., NSOPF:93–99, National Center for Educational Statistics, US Department of Education, National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, Faculty Survey. Washington, DC, 1993–1999] restricted databases, this study examines the conceptual and measurement differences across two National samples of research faculty members. The model suggests that three dimensions of worklife and four dimensions of satisfaction may be useful in the monitoring of faculty members perceptions changing over time. The results indicate that the construct validity of the model was supported across the two groups. Moreover, that worklife and satisfaction were stable with respect to the number of factors, item loadings, and factor intercorrelations. There was also substantial equivalence across the two groups.     

高校教师对网络教育发展中障碍因素的认识——来自中国农业大学教师群体的问卷调查报告

本研究是为了了解中国高校教师（以中国农业大学为例）对网络教育发展中障碍因素的认识和教师个人特征（包括专业领域、性别、年龄、受教育程度、学术头衔等）如何影响他们对障碍因素的认识.     

Environmental satisfiers in academe

Utilizing a nationwide sample of university professors in the United States, this study explored job satisfaction levels of academicians and the differences between perceived satisfaction of faculty in professional schools and that of faculty in other disciplines. The results were based upon responses from 336 faculty representing 24 universities selected on a stratified basis which included large, small, public and private universities. Teaching dimensions and research requirements were the most satisfying elements of the academic work environment; support and compensation aspects were the most dissatisfying. Faculty from professional schools reported higher levels of satisfaction for almost all of the 22 separate environmental dimensions, and these faculty also reported higher salaries and less stringent requirements for tenure and promotion. The demographic variables which explained the greatest amount of variance in work satisfaction scores were tenure, teaching load, sex, institution (public-private), and age. Salary and academic rank, which a priori are considered to be significant in an academician's satisfaction with work, appeared to have a lesser impact.     

Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.     

Conditions influencing faculty voting in collective bargaining elections

This research examines the factors that influenced voting behavior in two faculty union defeats at New York University. Faculty members' and librarians' demographic and professional characteristics referred to in previous research on collective bargaining were not good predictors of how they voted in these elections. However, their satisfaction with conditions at NYU, especially satisfaction with participation in governance, was a strong predictor of how they voted. Furthermore, faculty characteristics were found to influence their satisfaction with conditions. This paper also discusses the importance of the swing votes cast in a run-off election by the members of a previously defeated third party and the influence on the election outcomes of an independent group of faculty members opposed to unionization.     

DETERMINING OUTCOMES OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN TWO‐YEAR INSTITUTIONS‐PART 1

This research is presented in a two part series. The first article sets forth the objectives of the study and the research methodology and design. Basic demographic and institutional data are also presented. The second article in this series discusses interrelations among research data and presents conclusions and implications for practice.

An attempt is made to assess the extent to which faculty associations have penetrated certain management functions or rights. A related and second objective was to determine the impact of faculty unions on the traditional professional prerogatives of the faculty. The sample studied was approximately 63 percent of all collective bargaining agreements in existence at two‐year institutions. The authors also sought to develop predictors (institutional and demographic variables) of contractual language. In part 1, characteristics of institutions where contracts are in existence are discussed. A statistically significant relationship was found to exist between the demographic and institutional variables and the relative strength of contractual clauses in the areas of appointment, promotion, nonrenewal, tenure, long range planning, retrenchment and management rights. A complete breakdown of all variables utilized in this study can be found in the appendices     

To What Degree Does the Desire for Promotion Motivate Faculty to Perform Research? Testing the Expectancy Theory

Based on the rationale of expectancy theory, this article examines to what degree the desire for promotion motivates faculty to do research. Using Taiwanese faculty survey data, it is found that faculty members who show higher motivation for promotion display better research performance than their colleagues who show lower motivation for promotion. This article also indicates that different kinds of rewards have different motivating effects on various types of faculty research performance. After controlling for the effects of demographic, educational, and institutional variables, the results of logistic regressions show that faculty who think promotion and the satisfaction of curiosity are important tend to publish articles; faculty who want to demonstrate their mastery of their disciplines tend to publish books; and faculty who care about personal income are more likely to seek and receive the National Science Council Research Outcome Grant.     

Measuring the Quality of Faculty and Administrative Worklife: Implications for College and University Campuses

There seems to be a presumption that the quality of worklife on college and university campuses has declined for faculty and administrative staff. What is not known is how generally true this is perceived to be, to what extent the quality of worklife varies by campus, and for what reasons it varies. Most importantly, it is not clear what impact the quality of worklife of faculty and staff members has on their performance or retention. The following article reviews the recent empirical literature devoted to this topic and offers a framework that conceptualizes these studies in three groups: those that describe and explore differences in the quality of worklife, those that determine the impact of worklife on attitudes, and those that attempt to explain behavioral outcomes. The implications of this work for practice and policy on college and university campuses is discussed. The author argues that campus leaders who want to improve the performance and retention of faculty and administrative staff must identify and address the particular issues that matter to those employed on their campuses.     

Dimensions of faculty members' sensitivity to job satisfaction items

Researchers have suggested that questionnaire item sensitivity may be a possible source of response bias in investigations using mail surveys. In conducting job satisfaction studies of faculty members in higher education, investigators have assumed that job satisfaction items are not highly sensitive to faculty members and do not vary in their degree of sensitivity. The purpose of the present research was to assess the degree of sensitivity of various job satisfaction items to faculty members and to identify dimensions of faculty members' sensitivity to these items. Results from a questionnaire returned from 354 faculty members at a large university showed that their sensitivity to job satisfaction items centered primarily in three areas: (1) concern with extrinsic job factors, (2) concern with department head actions, and (3) concern with promotion and salary. On the whole, item sensitivity appeared to be rather low. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Predicting faculty attitude toward collective bargaining

This exploratory study isolated factors useful for predicting faculty attitude toward collective bargaining (CB) in higher education. Research sought, first, to measure the strength of bivariate relationships between a CB attitude measure and other attitudinal and demographic variables and to investigate the nature of multivariate relationships between the former criterion and the latter predictors. Second, the underlying structure of the most useful predictor was examined. Results showed that measures of faculty perceptions of potential bargaining issues — including monetary issues, working conditions, participation in institutional decision-making and promotion and tenure policies — as well as individual faculty compensation were the most useful predictors of CB attitudes. Conclusions related these findings to alternatives for higher education faculty and administrators as well as for potential faculty organizers and bargaining agents.     

Cultivating Faculty Support for Institutional Effectiveness Activities: Benchmarking best practices

This study examines faculty perspectives on accreditation-driven institutional effectiveness activities in higher education and measures the impact of four predictor variables on faculty perceptions about the importance of institutional effectiveness activities. The findings suggest that three variables are critical to faculty support for institutional effectiveness activities: (i) institutional motivation for pursuing these activities; (ii) level of involvement or participation in institutional effectiveness activities; and (iii) definition of quality. The findings suggest some best practices that institutions can use to cultivate faculty support for institutional effectiveness initiatives.     

The impact of blatant pay disclosure in a university environment

Using a self-report survey, this investigation described university employees' reactions to the publication of their salaries in a local campus newspaper. Correlational analyses indicated associations between impact of the disclosure and salary level, salary equity/satisfaction, instrumentality of performance-reward outcomes, internal salary attributions, and salary discussion. Further analysis found differences in respondent perceptions to be contingent upon job category (academic, professional, and support staff) and faculty level. Qualitative analysis suggested that individual responses to the salary disclosure took various forms: no effect at all, planning to leave one's job, attempting to correct salary inequities, reducing personal effort, and working harder. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on open pay systems and invasion of privacy.This paper was presented in part at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Dallas, Texas, August 1983.     

EFFECTS OF JOB-RELATED STRESS ON FACULTY INTENTION TO LEAVE ACADEMIA

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between job-related stress and faculty intent to leave academia. The stress variables studied were reward satisfaction, institutional/departmental reputation, time commitment, departmental/institutional influence, and student interaction. We hypothesized that the relationship between these variables and faculty intent to leave academia would be moderated by interest in one's discipline and sense of community — an institutional fit variable. We also investigated the effects of academic discipline, tenure status, and gender on these relationships. Based on data from a national faculty survey of 3,070 full-time tenure-track faculty, results indicated that of the variables studied, the two major correlates of intent to leave academia were time commitment and sense of community; however, time commitment did not moderate the stressor-intent relationship. Though showing significant zero-order correlations with intent, when gender and tenure status were added to the hierarchical regression analyses containing the stressors and moderators, neither variable contributed meaningfully to the prediction of intent. Academic discipline classification (Biglan, 1973) contributed only 2% to explained variance. A prediction model that contained all stressors, both moderators, and the background variables of gender and academic discipline accounted for 25% of the variance in intent to leave academia.     

Examining the Influences on Faculty Departure Intentions: A Comparison of Tenured Versus Nontenured Faculty at Research Universities Using NSOPF-99

This empirical research examines the predictors of intended departure for tenured vs. nontenured full-time faculty at research and doctoral institutions across an array of disciplines. What are the characteristics of those who intend to leave their institutions? Do tenured and nontenured faculty show different patterns of intended departure? And what are the implications for institutional policy and practice? This study proposes a theoretical model of faculty turnover intentions and tests the model on two groups of faculty surveyed in the 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-99). Using Structural Equation Modeling, we find both similarities and differences in the dynamics of intended departure between the tenured and nontenured faculty populations.     

Faculty and administrator perceptions of their environments: Different views or different models of organization?

Individuals' perceptions of the culture and climate of the organizations in which they work influence their motivation and individual performance. Using a theoretical model of institutional culture, organizational climate, and faculty motivation, this study examines how faculty and academic administrators differ in their perceptions; whether these differences in perceptions are affected by institutional type; and to what extent faculty and administrators have different implicit models of their institutions (i.e., see different organizational variables as predictors of faculty motivation and involvement). The goals of this investigation are to shed additional light on the relationship between institutional variables and faculty performance, to examine the existence of differing implicit models, and to provide new insights for administrators in managing their postsecondary institutions.The research reported in this paper is part of the Research Program on The Organizational Context for Teaching and Learning in the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning (NCRIPTAL). The research is supported by a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education (ED), to the University of Michigan (grant number G008690010). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI/ED or the Regents of The University of Michigan, and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

Faculty roles and role preferences in ten fields of professional study

Teaching faculty in ten entry-level professional fields reported varying amounts of time devoted to teaching, research, consulting, and professional practice but did not differ in time devoted to administration. The faculty member's own role view was most closely related to time use, but for time spent in teaching and research, faculty age and institutional type (but not gender) were also significant predictors. Even after several general demographic characteristics and environmental variables that potentially differentiate professional from discipline-based faculty are taken into account, different professional fields may be characterized by group climates which influence or reinforce certain faculty roles.