Academic Faculty Members Research Articles

Indonesian Faculty Barriers in Providing Help to College Students in Distress

Colleges are experiencing a surge of students in distress, particularly those with suicidal and self-harm tendencies. Despite numerous researchers having explored this phenomenon, very little action has been taken to address this issue at the university level, indicating the existence of inhibitory factors that have not yet been explored. The purpose of this study is to explore barriers that inhibit Indonesian faculty members from providing help to distressed college students. As many as 173 academic faculty members from 72 universities across Indonesia participated in this exploratory study by completing an online self-reported survey. Free text responses were thematically analyzed to provide information about the challenges that faculty members face. The findings were categorized into three main themes: lack of mental health information, unclear professional boundaries, and lack of institutional support. Further implications of the study will be discussed.

Hospitality Faculty Member Perceptions of the Role of Faculty Development for Their Teaching

ABSTRACTThis research note aims to explore hospitality faculty member perceptions on the purpose of faculty development while bringing increased awareness to the overall significance of educational development to the hospitality education discipline. The study examines the three dimensions of faculty development – faculty development, instructional development, and organizational development, in the context of data collected from a survey of hospitality management faculty members at one international hospitality management school in Switzerland. Analysis of the initial findings indicates that these faculty members view faculty development in the more traditional sense as a resource for supporting their teaching activities opposed to a strategic change agent within the institution. Areas for future research include expansion of the study to multiple institutions, the consideration of the needs of industry-centric and traditional academic faculty members, and shifting perspectives of stakeholders within the three dimensions of faculty development.

Measuring the academic value of academic medical centers: describing a methodology for developing an evaluation model at one Academic Medical Center

BackgroundAcademic Medical Centers (AMCs) must simultaneously serve different purposes:Delivery of high quality healthcare services to patients, as the main mission, supported by other core missions such as academic activities, i.e., researching, teaching and tutoring, while maintaining solvency.This study aims to develop a methodology for constructing models evaluating the academic value provided by AMCs and implementing it at the largest AMC in Israel.MethodsThirty five practiced educators and researchers, academic experts, faculty members and executives, all employed by a metropolitan 1500-bed AMC, were involved in developing academic quality indicators. First, an initial list of AMCs’ academic quality indicators was drafted, using a literature review and consulting scholars. Afterwards, additional data and preferences were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews, complemented by a three-round Delphi Panel. Finally, the methodology for constructing a model evaluating the academic value provided by the AMC was developed.ResultsThe composite academic quality indicators methodology consists of nine indicators (relative weight in parentheses): ‘Scientific Publications Value’ (18.7%), ‘Completed Studies’ (13.5%), ‘Authors Value’ (13.0%), ‘Residents Quality’ (11.3%), ‘Competitive Grants Budget’ (10.2%), ‘Academic Training’ (8.7%), ‘Academic Positions’ (8.3%), ‘Number of Studies’ (8.3%) and ‘Academic Supervision’ (8.0%).These indicators were grouped into three core categories: ‘Education’, ‘Research’ and ‘Publications’, having almost the same importance on a scale from zero to one (0–1), i.e., 0.363, 0.320, and 0.317, respectively. The results demonstrated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach-alpha range: 0.79–0.86).ConclusionsWe have found a gap in the ability to measure academic value provided by AMCs. The main contribution of this research is the development of methodology for constructing evaluation models for AMCs academic performance. Further studies are needed to further test the validity and reliability of the proposed methodology at other sites.

Book Review: Digital Humanities, Libraries, and Partnerships: A Critical Examination of Labor, Networks, and Community

As the title suggests, a major theme of this edited volume is partnership. While every digital humanist to some extent defines digital humanities (DH) in subjective ways, there is widespread consensus that DH work requires interdisciplinary collaboration of the sort in which each partner’s disciplinary knowledge and expertise are respected. These conditions of mutual respect should be obtained whether or not the partner is a student, an MLIS- or PhD-credentialed librarian, an archivist, an alt-ac worker, or an academic faculty member (non-tenure track, tenure-track, or tenured). Inevitably, there are frictions within traditional academic hierarchies. For example, the chapter by Risam and Edwards recounts the unequal terms of participation for faculty and librarians in grant-funded work. Problems of credit-sharing are a feature of many chapters.

Teaching Students to Think - Faculty Recommendations for Teaching Evaluations Employing Automated Content Analysis

Many studies have been conducted on teaching evaluations completed by students and on myths and facts concerning these evaluations performed by students at academic institutions. The current study is unique in examining the meaning of teaching evaluations as perceived by academic faculty members in Israel through direct questions, with an emphasis on faculty's recommendations for improving the evaluations to make students' comments meaningful for enhancing and advancing their teaching. The perception of evaluations is unique too. Evaluations are part of faculty's learning outputs in their courses, with the aim being for graduates of academic systems to have the ability to provide objective and fair assessments.One hundred seventy seven questionnaires were gathered from senior faculty at several academic institutions. Qualitative and statistical research tools were used in order to form a model that expresses the negative implications as seen by faculty members and alternatives for measuring the performance of faculty in academic teaching. The research findings indicate that lecturers note "professional" alternatives and see teaching evaluations as a populist rather than a professional tool. Moreover, although the lecturers gauge the damage caused to them as a result of student evaluations, where the enormous damage caused to them is disproportionate to the number of respondents, and although faculty members believe that student evaluations are untrustworthy, students' opinions on the courses are important. Their recommendation is that the evaluation should be a tool for teaching how to perform evaluations and convey criticism – and in this field not much has been done in academic institutions, if at all. Academia sees evaluations as a technical matter, a means of satisfying students by letting them express their opinions and of giving students a feeling that the system is attentive to their voice, to their views.Indeed, students' voice is important to the lecturers – their opinions of teaching are important – and that is precisely why action should be taken to render these evaluations fair. Students should understand the power of the words that express their evaluation of the lecturers. This point of view is a first of its kind, where academic faculty members support students' opinions and provide recommendations aimed at their improvement.

Propellants of mechanical pruning and plucking of tea (a case of developing countries)

Tea is one of the most widely consumed natural beverages in the world. High costs of tea pruning and plucking is among the main challenges of its production in Iran as a developing country. Therefore, the development of mechanical pruning and plucking of tea bushes is unavoidable to ensure its sustainable production. In this respect, the present study was carried out in Guilan Province as the leading tea producing region of Iran using Delphi technique in order to identify and analyze the driving factors of the development of tea pruning and plucking mechanization in Iran. After consultation with the academic faculty members in Guilan Province, to form the research panel, 30 experts of tea mechanization were identified and selected from the Tea Organization of Iran, Tea Research Center, and Agriculture Agencies of main tea producing regions of Guilan Province. The results revealed that “Publicizing the benefits of consumption of the domestic tea”, “supporting tea making industries to modernize their systems”, “Reduced prices of domestic and imported mechanical tea equipments by subsidy payment and reduction of tariffs on imports”, “quantitative and qualitative improvement of tea green leaves through applying new agronomic methods and modern irrigation systems”, and “Devoting special bank loans to execute tea mechanization plans” were the most important driving factors of the development of tea pruning and plucking mechanization in Guilan Province as agreed upon by 96.78, 95.89, 95, 95, and 91.42% of panel members, respectively. Thus, recommendations were put forth to help the development of tea pruning and plucking mechanization in Guilan Province.

The Level of Application of the Governance Principles in Yemeni Universities: A Comparative Study between Private and Government Universities

The study aimed to identify the level of application of the governance principles in Yemeni universities from the point of view of faculty members and academic leaders. The research followed the descriptive / analytical method, and the questionnaire was used as a research tool. The sample consisted of (94) academic leaders and faculty members of the Universities of Sana'a and Science and Technology: (36) participants from Sana’a and (58) from Science and Technology. The results showed that the sample’s degree of assessment of the level of application of governance principles at Sana'a University was low with an average of (2.1056); the dimension of fairness came first and the dimension of participation received the last rank. Further, the sample’s assessment degree of the level of application of the governance principles at the University of Science and Technology was high with an average of (3.8198); the dimension of responsibility received the first rank, and the dimension of participation received the last rank. There were statistically significant differences between the average scores of the sample members in favor of the University of Science and Technology in all areas of governance. The study recommended that government universities should strive to implement the governance principles in order to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, competitiveness and quality of services. Also, private universities should strive to apply the governance principles to ensure their continuity, competitiveness and quality.
 Keywords: Governance, Governance principles, Academic leaders.

How do Academic Faculty Members Perceive the Effect of Teaching Surveys Completed by Students on Appointment and Promotion Processes at Academic Institutions? A Case Study

It is commonly thought that the promotion of faculty members is affected by their research performance. The current study is unique in examining how academic faculty members perceive the harm or damage to academic appointment and promotion processes, as a direct effect of student evaluations as manifested in teaching surveys. One hundred eighty two questionnaires were collected from senior faculty members at academic institutions. Most respondents were from three institutions: Ariel University, Ben Gurion University, and the Jezreel Valley College. Qualitative and statistical research tools were utilized, with the goal of forming a model reflecting the effect of the harm to academic appointment and promotion processes, as perceived by faculty members. The research findings show that the lecturers find an association that causes harm to their promotion processes as a result of student evaluations. Assuming that students' voices and their opinion of teaching are important – the question is how should these evaluations be treated within promotion and appointment processes: what and whom do they indicate? Do they constitute a reliable managerial tool with which it is possible to work as a foundation for promotion and appointment processes – or should other tools be developed, unrelated to students' opinions?

Scale Development on Perception of Academic Harassment among Medical University Faculties

In academia, harassment may often occur and remain unrevealed in Japan, which discourages young researchers from pursuing their career. It is necessary to estimate and improve the perception of "academic harassment" among university faculties. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop a scale of perception of academic harassment. Prior to a quantitative survey, a task team consisting of medical doctors, researchers, nurses, hospital workers, and managers in general affairs division identified 36 items related to academic harassment. In February 2016, we sent a self-administered questionnaire to 1,126 academic faculty members who worked in a medical university located in Tokyo, Japan. We instructed them to score the extent to which they consider each item as related to academic harassment based on a Likert scale. We carried out maximum likelihood factor analyses with promax rotation and computed Cronbach's alpha to develop a scale and investigate the reliability of the scale. In total, 377 returned the questionnaires (response rate, 33.5%; male, 73.8%). In factor analyses, we removed 17 items owing to low factor loadings, and four factors were eventually extracted. The first factor was termed "Harassment in organization (7 items)" because it included conditions of forcing a particular person to work on chores or lectures for students that may prevent one's academic research outputs. The second factor was termed "Violence and denying personal character (4 items)". The third factor was termed "Research misconduct (5 items)" including conditions of excluding a particular person from the coauthor list of research outputs or pressuring a person to fabricate, falsify, or plagiarize research outputs. The fourth factor was termed "Research interference (3 items)" including a condition of interference with conference attendance. Cronbach's alpha values of these four factors ranged from 0.83 to 0.91, suggesting that the scale had high reliability. The means of these factors did not differ according to gender but were higher in participants aged 50 or older than in younger participants. The results suggest that the scale of perception on academic harassment consisting of four factors with 19 items is valid and reliable to some extent.

Reframing Teaching Problems into Teaching Opportunities

Reframing Teaching Problems into Teaching Opportunities

Create a collaborative process to eliminate barriers to success

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When the University of West Georgia hired a new president, one of the first things on the docket for change was to tackle institutional barriers to student and institutional success. UWG officials put together a cross‐divisional team of academic leaders and faculty members and developed a process for identifying everyday inefficiencies and barriers to effectiveness and success.

The Influence of Personality Traits on Life Satisfaction Through Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction among Academic Faculty Members

The Influence of Personality Traits on Life Satisfaction Through Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction among Academic Faculty Members

Strategies to Attain Faculty Work-Life Balance

Background: Achieving work-life balance can be a challenge for academic faculty members. The multifaceted demands and expectations of the role can affect faculty satisfaction and the ability to attain work-life balance. The ever-changing trends in higher education, including technology and online education modalities provide additional factors that can inhibit faculty satisfaction and work-life balance.Aims: This paper explores barriers to achieving work-life balance such as cognitive dissonance, emotional dissonance and burnout. Understanding barriers is essential to developing strategies to promote work-life balance.Methods: An integrated review of the literature on life balance of academic faculty in all disciplines using multiple online databases.Conclusion: Strategies, organized around mentoring and self-care, include promoting physical health, connecting socially, and practicing mindfulness as a cognitive approach can help counteract work-place stressors and help in achieving work-life balance.

Faculty Development Program for Emergency Medicine Physicians in India: A Pilot Program.

The specialty of emergency medicine (EM) is developing worldwide at a rapid pace. While more and more postgraduate training programs are developing, a major gap persists in numbers and availability of well-trained academic faculty members. This article describes a pilot faculty development program (FDP) aimed to develop advanced academic skills among a group of EM physicians in India. A FDP was developed with foundations in adult learning principles, using a combined approach of online and in-person didactic sessions. Specific expectations were established regarding academic contributions to participants' home institutions. Mentorship relationships were established between academic emergency physicians and program participants. A 12-month pilot program was implemented across four EM training programs in India. Nine faculty members completed the full requirements of the pilot program, eight of whom have continued to work as academic faculty members in EM training programs. Academic productivity among these physicians since completion of the program includes 11 abstract publications, six peer-reviewed articles, and 71 mentorship relationships. Program challenges included participant attrition, connectivity issues, and low rates of completion of evaluation requirements by both participants and mentors. This pilot program in faculty development provides a foundation from which further programs may be developed in the international sector. Effective faculty development is a cornerstone of good academic medicine, which is of particular relevance, importance, and challenge in the global context of a developing specialty.

The Impact of Psychological Combustion on the Performance of University and Higher Education Teachers

The aim of the research is to identify the impact of psychological combustion on the job performance of university and higher institutes teachers through a study of analytical by the same academic leaders at the University of Tikrit, The research was based on the analytical descriptive method and the use of the psychometric scale and the performance scale.
 The research found a number of results, namely that the most academic leadership positions whose performance is affected by the levels of psychological combustion is the head of the department, and that the academic leadership in the practical colleges is the most affected by the performance of the levels of psychological combustion. Also, the female academic leaders are affected by their performance at higher levels of combustion Psychological leadership, and that academic leaders have the degree of assistant professor is affected by its performance more levels of psychological combustion, and that the academic leaders married is affected by their performance more levels of psychological combustion, and that academic leaders The age group of 30 to 40 years is the most affected by the performance of the levels of psychological combustion, and academic leaders with years of experience less than 20 years are affected by their performance more levels of psychological combustion.
 The research recommended that work should be done to improve the professional and social conditions of academic leaders and faculty members in colleges and higher institutes, and to prepare preventive and guidance programs that help reduce the feeling of work pressure and health monitoring of academic leaders and faculty members to ensure their health and psychological health. The faculty and raise their morale with rewards and incentives, both material and moral, training and qualification of academic leaders and faculty members to increase their ability to think creatively and how to manage time and exploitation Its best possible exploitation.

Internationalisation strategy, faculty response and academic preparedness for transnational teaching

PurposeTransnational education (TNE), interpreted as the mobility of education programmes and providers between countries, has grown exponentially as a worldwide phenomenon in recent years. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have mainly used such opportunities to internationalise their degrees and programmes, and have paid scant attention on preparing academics to teach cross-culturally. As a result, academics being at the coalface of teaching and learning often feel under-informed, under-supported, underprepared and under-confident when it comes to cross-cultural teaching, suggesting that universities have largely failed to prepare their academic faculty members to face the challenges of internationalisation. This is particularly important for new and young players such as the post-92 universities in the UK. However, such institutions have largely been ignored by the previous research in this area. Reverting the research focus on young HEIs, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of preparing faculty staff members in the context of a post-92 university in the UK, to teach cross-culturally at partner institutions via the TNE route.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts Deardorff’s intercultural competency process model to develop a framework (focussing on three core elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes) that could help the academic staff members to prepare for teaching internationally. The paper is based on a detailed analysis of university’s internationalisation strategy, policy documents and related reports for the 1999–2016 period. The initial analysis is further supplemented by 11 interviews with the main stakeholders, i.e. academics, educational developers and policy makers.FindingsAs the post-92 university in focus, like its counterparts, continues to proliferate its degrees and programmes through the TNE route, academics who are tasked with transnational teaching have an increased responsibility to develop the competencies required to work with learners from diversified cultural backgrounds. However, there has been less interest at university or faculty level in ensuring that academic faculty members who teach in transnational context are prepared for the specific rigours of transnational teaching.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings have broader implications at individual, organisational and industry-level for individual academic faculty members to progress further in their career, HEIs to improve the quality of training programmes and policies and the HE industry to adjust the strategy towards internationalisation.Practical implicationsIn the absence of any formally structured training, the paper proposes pre-departure informal training workshops/seminars conducted by seasoned academics at faculty, school or department level to help new academics transform their knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to facilitate positive interactions with students in a cross-cultural teaching environment. Although the focus is on one post-92 university; however, the proposed framework could be adopted across HEIs worldwide.Originality/valueThe paper is based on a detailed analysis of university’s internationalisation strategy, policy documents and related reports for the 1999–2016 period. The initial analysis is further supplemented by 11 interviews with the main stakeholders, i.e. academics, educational developers and policy makers. Informed by the best practices, the paper also discusses the implication of intercultural competencies for cross-cultural teaching.

Mission as Metaphor: Reconceptualizing how Leaders Utilize Institutional Mission

Background/ContextInstitutional missions serve many purposes within universities, but most studies focus on how mission points to direction, guidelines, or priorities. However, organizational missions have been shown to have other functions such as instructing members about actions or behaviors that are acceptable. This paper therefore examines texts for evidence of how respondents’ ideas about mission go beyond just a statement of direction or priorities.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyTo consider the use of metaphor in describing institutional mission, the following research questions were examined: 1. How are metaphors used to describe institutional mission? 2. What function(s) is the discourse around institutional mission being used to serve?Research DesignThe study is a discourse analysis of written texts and interview transcripts as part of a qualitative, comparative case study of six master's-granting institutions that are campuses within one state's public university system.Data Collection and AnalysisInterviews were conducted with 36 university leaders including chief academic officers, deans, department chairs, and faculty members including at least one: (a) member of the institution's body of collegiate deans, (b) department chair and/or collegiate dean directly involved in decision making, and (c) current and/or previous president of the faculty governance body. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using an iterative data analysis method drawing from grounded theory and constant comparative analysis. Following qualitative analysis, a subsequent word count was conducted to determine the extent to which the metaphors were used.Conclusions/RecommendationsResults suggest mission is a socially constructed phenomenon with a variety of different functions revealed through metaphor that engage different audiences and are closely tied to institutional context and purpose. Metaphors of mission articulated by respondents include mission as: (a) symbolic unity, (b) boundary object, (c) tool, (d) cage, (e) metamorphosis, (f) cultural artifact, (g) motivator, (h) authoritative text, (i) transaction, and (j) treaty document. Understanding the complexities of institutional mission suggests a need to reconsider it and the ways in which leaders engage with their institutional missions.

Analysing the Importance of Demographic Factor as Determinant of Research Efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis

Universities play an active and important role in the development of a country as centres for generating ideas and knowledge which,in turn,drives the development of the economy as well as improves the quality of life for its citizens. Public universities around the world have begun to realise the importance of ensuring their financial sustainability by exploring alternative sources of income aside from the traditional government subsidy,such as research grants from public funds, private agencies and international bodies. The question on how efficiently these grants are utilised by researchers would,therefore,become an important issue. This paper adopts the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to measure the relative inefficiencies of the academic faculty members of University Putra Malaysia (UPM), a public university in Malaysia using data collected from 2010 to 2016 and investigates the relationships between demographic factors, field of study,and research inefficiency. The input and output variables used in this study are research grants received by academic faculty members and their corresponding publications in Citation Indexed Journals (“CIJ”), non-CIJ, as well as publishing books and chapters in books, with each output measured separately. Data are divided into two clusters: science and social science. Demographic factors examined are academic position of the researcher. Research inefficiency for both science and social science fields generally worsens with higher academic positions. The effect for science field is more pronounced for CIJ, non-CIJ,and books. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Academic Life under Institutional Pressures for AACSB Accreditation

Scholars have increasingly recognized how efforts among business schools to attain (and maintain) accreditation from external agencies (i.e., AACSB) has engendered myriad consequences on the experiences of academic faculty. Extant research that has investigated this phenomenon empirically has focused its analytical gaze largely on business schools in advanced economy contexts, where such institutions are relatively better endowed–in terms of structural and human capital resources–than their counterparts in less developed regions. Drawing on a qualitative study on two business schools in Mexico, this article illuminates how academic faculty members recognize and negotiate the intensifying pressures for restrictive forms of research output that is the corollary of their business school’s endeavor to satisfy the scholarly requirements for AACSB accreditation. This article further considers the disastrous implications posed by this trend should it continue.

Improving Academic Conferences – Criticism and Suggestions Utilizing Natural Language Processing

<p style="text-align:justify">This study focuses on the evaluation of academic conferences and ways of improving them. The study includes a case study of one university in Israel. Sixty two academic faculty members from varied departments completed a questionnaire, including 61.7% women and 38.3% men. The research participants were asked a single open question: "What do you think could be improved at conferences?" In addition, age, seniority, and the number of times the respondents had initiated or served as a partner in initiating a conference were also examined. The main findings are as follows: Age predicts seniority. Seniority has a positive effect on the number of times the respondent organized or was a partner in organizing a conference. Seniority has a negative effect on time, i.e., the more senior the faculty member the more he or she would like conferences to be short and to the point. Moreover, the amount of initiatives to organize a conference or to be a partner in establishing a conference has a negative effect on interaction, i.e., the more initiating the faculty member the less he or she is interested in interpersonal interactions at conferences. The wish to space out sessions and lectures has a positive effect on the need to improve the quality of the lectures.</p>