0.4 Erickson, d., hensley, p., & Kinsey, g. (april 2010). lessons

Introduction

For a variety of personnel and institutional reasons, retention of faculty should be of major concern to universities and colleges. Clark’s (2005) study on the professoriate found that 50% of all university faculty members were between the ages of 40 and 55; more critical is the fact that 25% of the faculty at that time were age 55 or older. These statistics have multiple implications for universities as we enter into a time that is increasingly politically and financially turbulent for institutions of higher education.

The number of doctoral degrees granted from US institutions has declined at a rate of 6% a year since 1998. In 2002, only 40,000 doctorates were conferred and only 70% of the individuals receiving those newly minted doctorates were identified as citizens of the United States (Broad, 2005; Clark, 2005; Ehernberg&Zhang, 2005).

The high cost of turnover of faculty positions strains already depleted budgets. Faculty searches and the hiring process are costly and at times inordinately time consuming. Each faculty departure and subsequent hire represent costly expenses, both in terms of employee time, effort, and energy as well as the monetary expenditures of advertising and recruitment (Ambrose, Huston,&Norman, 2005; Zhou&Volkwein, 2004).

One of the factors cited in the literature as a determinant in the retention of untenured faculty was the absence of collegiality (Ambrose, Huston,&Norman, 2005; Zhou&Volkwein, 2004; Johnsrud, 2002; Erickson&Rodriguez, 1999; Sorcinelli, 1994). Additional factors leading to the separation from the university were (a) lack of support, (b) lack of positive working relationships with colleagues, (c) environments in which one’s work was questioned and (d) environments in which untenured faculty receive little or no assistance from colleagues with publication and teaching strategies. Without collegial support, new faculty often experience feelings of alienation, isolation, and disenfranchisement (Piercy, et al, 2005; Erickson&Rodriguez, 1999). These factors raise ethical and moral questions related to how we treat, care for and protect our colleagues in higher education.