Abstract
All programs in a midwestern university recently embarked on a path to help increase the scholarly productivity of faculty. The effort to develop a research emphasis within the School of Education required determining the needs of tenure-track faculty regarding meeting the new requirements. The purposes of our study were to investigate these needs and identify the individual, environmental, and leadership factors that affect faculty productivity. Findings revealed a need to transform the School’s service and teaching culture to a culture of research and scholarship. Recommendations for helping other schools of education to become more research-oriented are provided. While the study focuses on data from a particular School of Education, the implications may generalize to faculty productivity within other institutions, particularly within professional schools.
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Susan A. Santo
received a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia and is currently an Associate Professor of Adult and Higher Education at the University of South Dakota. Her research interests include faculty productivity in higher education and improving distance learning.
Mary E. Engstrom
received an Ed.D. from the University of South Dakota in Curriculum and Instruction. She is currently the Associate Director of Extended Learning Services at the University of Montana. Her research interests include instructional design for online learning and professional development for educators.
Linda Reetz
received an Ed.D. from the University of North Dakota in Teacher Education and serves as the Associate Dean of the School of Education at the University of South Dakota. Her research interests include higher education practices for teacher education programs and mild disabilities.
William Schweinle
received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington in Psychology and serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Dakota. His research interest area is in statistics.
Kristine Reed
received a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Curriculum and Instruction/Administration and serves as a faculty member in Curriculum and Instruction, University of South Dakota. Her research emphases include multicultural education and rural education.
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Santo, S.A., Engstrom, M.E., Reetz, L. et al. Faculty Productivity Barriers and Supports at a School of Education. Innov High Educ 34, 117–129 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-009-9098-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-009-9098-z