From serving students to serving the economy: Changing expectations of faculty role performance

Abstract

In this article, it is argued that academic managers in state bureaucracies and universities are changing their expectations of faculty role. Such changes are generally justified as a necessary response to the fiscal crisis faced in many states. The nature and degree of these changing expectations are assessed through analysis of the goals and objectives addressing teaching, research and service in state, system and university planning documents as these bear on a single university over a ten year period (approximately 1970 to the present). Next, faculty behavior, as indicated by university statistics based on faculty activities reports, is examined to see if it is changing to conform to emerging managerial expectations. Finally, these changing role expectations are looked at in light of shifts in role resources.