The Scholar's Survival Manual: A Road Map for Students, Faculty, and Administrators

11. Stronger Faculties & Stronger Institutions (#392–420)

358 A. Fundamentals 392 College Admissions The Shape of the River(W.BowenandD.Bok,1998)isaboutselectivecollegesandrace -sensitiveadmissions.Collegeadmissionsatnon-selective colleges admit any qualified applicant; at selective colleges, admission is based on a very wide variety of factors, academic qualification being in effect a minor factor. Post-college success is directly related to the selectivity of your college. People with lower scores than you got in, when youdidnot.(HalformoreofthehighestSAT groupdonotgetadmitted.) JeromeKarabel(TheChosen,2005)describesadmissionsatHarvard, Yale, and Princeton in the twentieth century. One of the big post-WWII issueswascontinuingHarvard’sadmissionofa“happybottomquarter.” 393 Attracting Strong Graduate Students People come to graduate schools–at least the strongest students in doctoral programs–because of the quality of the department (not the university ) and its ability to place its students in the best jobs. Whatever the National Research Council rankings show, the informed faculty at the strongest schools know more about who’s who at U, and who is getting hired. Who are their research competitors? So the schemes for increasing graduate (doctoral) student quality depend surely on having Stronger Faculties & Stronger Institutions (#392–420) eleven Stronger Faculties & Stronger Institutions (#392–420) 359 enough money to attract them, but for the very best students you need preeminent faculty. And every faculty member who is not going to be preeminent hurts you. Still, we can make some real improvements with more fellowship money. We might train our students much better than most places–to give better talks, to do more significant research. All of this does not depend on the faculty being preeminent–they just have to be assiduous in training, and have decent taste in research problems. What we keep seeing in our recruiting is how poorly trained are many students from other universities. We can do better. 394 Market Signaling Faculty leaving an institution sends an important message to deans and the provost about its undervaluing some people. I encourage people to look-see other jobs. I never know what the right choice is for each faculty member. (The grass looks greener, the costs of moving are not small, the time in the career is critical.) But a strong university has to step up to the plate often enough to retain and bind its strongest faculty. Surely that makes things a bit unfair to those who are either not in the market orunlikelytogetoffersfrompeerorbetterinstitutions–butitisthenthe job of the deans to make things a bit fairer (or not, if they feel that some facultymembersdonotwarrantthat),andalsotorealizethatshort-term overpayment to bind people to the institution is what you must do. One overpaid faculty member whom you view as desirable and very strong is worth two weaker ones, so the cost/quality is actually lower. Moreover, for faculty who are not promoted or given step increases or endowed chairs or whatever, outside offers allow the university to rectify its errors and learn how its evaluations systems are defective. Of course,thesmartdeansanticipatesuchpossibilitiesandovercompensate the faculty member so that outside offers do not seem so desirable. This may well involve building a group of scholars around a strong faculty member, or maybe just a better office. If the goal is excellence then the choices are not obscure. If the goal is solidarity, then the choices are quite difficult. 360 The Scholar’s Survival Manual 395 You Want a Faculty That’s Hard to Keep Tenured faculty are the foundation for an institution to become one of the manifestly strong research universities. Why not the best or among the very best? 1. How to better manage the human capital of our tenured faculty: a. clusters with leaders (so energizing lagging faculty); b. customized mentoring and guidance for the lost–pastoral work; c. guidance for full professors on how to up their game. 2. Hire advanced assistant professors, with a book in press, for example ; hire senior faculty, on their way to retirement, for a fixed term. By the way, did you do a real search, or is this a setup to hire someone already in mind? 3. Probationary faculty: a. Must do what they are supposed to deliver. Nothing else–no book reviews, no encyclopedia articles, limited number of conferences: what counts is getting the work done and out. b. Should encounter no surprises at tenure time if denied: At the third-year review, lay out a very clear set of expectations, and if they are not met the candidate is unlikely to be tenured. Their expectations have to be what we...