Thursday, November 28, 2013

Promotion to Full Professor, Administrative Viscosity, Laying Golden Eggs

I am sure my viewpoint is parochial, having read about 800-1000 dossiers in all fields at all levels at one university, albeit with probably 10,000 reference letters from a very wide variety of institutions.

It has been suggested to me that promotion to full at research universities is more generous and varied than publishing in the strong journals and having a national reputation for excellence. Surely there are idiosyncratic cases, but I am thinking in terms of the norm that is followed.  I do know that in many universities there are enough long-time associate professors that their chairs, deans and provosts are trying to figure out how to restart the long-time associate professors' research careers. Keep in mind that every once in a while, a long-time associate professor lays a golden egg. Also, I believe that one of the consequences of being tenured and promoted to associate professor is that the university and departments now feel it is ok to put lots of service and administrative obligation upon them, what might be called administrative viscosity, diverting people from their research and teaching emphases. I realize that someone has to do the work. But maybe we can do less of it.

Also, my observations are restricted to research universities. Two lists below are conventional definitions, the AAU members, and the Carnegie classification. Of course, some or many faculty at these institutions have decreased their research activity, and faculty at institutions not listed here may well have very research-productive careers. Also, it is obvious that most departments at these universities cannot be in the top ten or top twenty, and most faculty cannot be among the top 50 in their field. We are a collective enterprise, with many people contributing to research and training the next generation of scholars. It has been argued (http://chronicle.com/article/We-Must-Stop-the-Avalanche-of/65890/ ) that much research disappears without a trace, and we need a focus on impact or contribution. And there have been systematic studies (among the Robert K. Merton researchers) of whether we really need all the research to make advances (I do not recall the conclusions or the source, just now.)

Martin

Assoc of Amer Universities by year of admissions

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Carnegie Fdn Teaching: Research Universities, High Research

Doctorate-granting Universities. Includes institutions that awarded at least 20 research doctoral degrees during the update year (excluding doctoral-level degrees that qualify recipients for entry into professional practice, such as the JD, MD, PharmD, DPT, etc.). Excludes Special Focus Institutions and Tribal Colleges.
Tempe, Arizona
Public
Boston, Massachusetts
Private not-for-profit
Waltham, Massachusetts
Private not-for-profit
Providence, Rhode Island
Private not-for-profit
Pasadena, California
Private not-for-profit
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Private not-for-profit
Cleveland, Ohio
Private not-for-profit
Fort Collins, Colorado
Public
New York, New York
Private not-for-profit
Ithaca, New York
Private not-for-profit
New York, New York
Public
Hanover, New Hampshire
Private not-for-profit
Durham, North Carolina
Private not-for-profit
Atlanta, Georgia
Private not-for-profit
Tallahassee, Florida
Public
Washington, District of Columbia
Private not-for-profit
Washington, District of Columbia
Private not-for-profit
Atlanta, Georgia
Public
Atlanta, Georgia
Public
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Private not-for-profit
Bloomington, Indiana
Public
Ames, Iowa
Public
Baltimore, Maryland
Private not-for-profit
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Public
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Private not-for-profit
East Lansing, Michigan
Public
Mississippi State, Mississippi
Public
Bozeman, Montana
Public
New York, New York
Private not-for-profit
Raleigh, North Carolina
Public
Fargo, North Dakota
Public
Evanston, Illinois
Private not-for-profit
Columbus, Ohio
Public
Corvallis, Oregon
Public
University Park, Pennsylvania
Public
Princeton, New Jersey
Private not-for-profit
West Lafayette, Indiana
Public
Troy, New York
Private not-for-profit
Houston, Texas
Private not-for-profit
New York, New York
Private not-for-profit
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Public
Stanford, California
Private not-for-profit
Stony Brook, New York
Public
Albany, New York
Public
College Station, Texas
Public
Knoxville, Tennessee
Public
Austin, Texas
Public
Medford, Massachusetts
Private not-for-profit
New Orleans, Louisiana
Private not-for-profit
Buffalo, New York
Public
Birmingham, Alabama
Public
Huntsville, Alabama
Public
Tucson, Arizona
Public
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Public
Berkeley, California
Public
Davis, California
Public
Irvine, California
Public
Los Angeles, California
Public
Riverside, California
Public
La Jolla, California
Public
Santa Barbara, California
Public
Santa Cruz, California
Public
Orlando, Florida
Public
Chicago, Illinois
Private not-for-profit
Cincinnati, Ohio
Public
Boulder, Colorado
Public
Storrs, Connecticut
Public
Newark, Delaware
Public
Gainesville, Florida
Public
Athens, Georgia
Public
Honolulu, Hawaii
Public
Houston, Texas
Public
Chicago, Illinois
Public
Champaign, Illinois
Public
Iowa City, Iowa
Public
Lawrence, Kansas
Public
Lexington, Kentucky
Public
Louisville, Kentucky
Public
College Park, Maryland
Public
Amherst, Massachusetts
Public
Coral Gables, Florida
Private not-for-profit
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Public
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Public
Columbia, Missouri
Public
Lincoln, Nebraska
Public
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Public
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Public
Notre Dame, Indiana
Private not-for-profit
Norman, Oklahoma
Public
Eugene, Oregon
Public
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Private not-for-profit
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Public
Rochester, New York
Private not-for-profit
Columbia, South Carolina
Public
Tampa, Florida
Public
Los Angeles, California
Private not-for-profit
Salt Lake City, Utah
Public
Charlottesville, Virginia
Public
Seattle, Washington
Public
Madison, Wisconsin
Public
Nashville, Tennessee
Private not-for-profit
Richmond, Virginia
Public
Blacksburg, Virginia
Public
Pullman, Washington
Public
Saint Louis, Missouri
Private not-for-profit
Detroit, Michigan
Public
New Haven, Connecticut
Private not-for-profit
New York, New York
Private not-for-profit


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