Professors pressured to publish

Faculty who publish make universities more competitive

Ana Ramos - ramosav@plu.edu

mast news reporter

As finals near, students aren’t the only ones working on large papers and projects—so are the faculty.

Outside of the teaching curriculum, professors are also working on publishing material relative to their field. At certain institutions, the number of publishications could make or break a professor’s career in a phenomenon known as “publish or perish.”

As Derek Bok wrote in “Universities in the Market Place: The Commercialization of Higher Education,” elite institutions are increasingly focused on recruiting those individuals more in touch with research than the student body.

Why Publish?

Even graduates are subjected to publishing pressures while still in school as they look toward to a future career in the teaching profession.

Although this can bring prestige to both the person and the hiring university, critics say it simultaneously reduces quality in the publishing world and decreases the professor-undergraduate interaction needed to provide a purposeful aim for students within and beyond the university setting.

In response to this academic trend, the book “Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully” shows the importance of providing a more student-based focus by profiling 10 universities that not only engaged students in curriculum but also helped them to define their vocation. PLU was one of those profiled institutions.

According to “Putting Students First,” the profiled universities follow a three-tier system: attract particular student types and shape them into what is valued at the university; develop the student’s moral sense and intellectuality simultaneously; and place the responsibility of nurturing—not catering to—the whole student within the university community, that is, professors, student affairs and coaches.

PLU is a university that takes into account three aspects when recruiting and promoting faculty: teaching, service and professional development or scholarship. Of these aspects, “teaching is number one” said Jon Grahe, associate professor of psychology.

While he maintains his own scholarly research, his priority tends to return to students and getting them involved, even in their own publishing aspirations and research.

“Teaching is more important, my focus is advancing the student’s career,” Grahe said.

Professor Dennis Martin of the English Department also agrees that teaching is highest on the agenda at PLU, an aspect that he said has helped maintain an enjoyable 32 years at the university for him. He said, the mantra at PLU is best said as “teacher or perish.”

Pressure Unavoidable

While the university emphasizes student’s first, it is expected of professors looking for tenureship to publish, said Sid Olufs, professor of political science. The level of expectation can vary by department and university.

As Grahe explained, a school ranked as R1—the highest grade—may require that a potential tenure candidate has published 10-15 works in psychology. A lower grade may not require as many publications from the faculty.

While PLU might not necessarily require an entire book for a tenure candidate, it would be interested in looking at the candidate’s entire research plan, which could include work on a soon-to-be-published book.

In the English Department, the published works can be anything from art to poetry collections to an entire book, said Martin.

Publishing requirements are admittedly lower at PLU than at other institutions in the US.
“It’s very rare for people to be fired for not publishing,” Martin said. Still, there is the “pressure to be professionally active.”

Such pressure, said Martin, is important since it contributes to growth in the respective field.

Asking Questions

Part of that growth is asking questions. One involves feedback on published works.

Most individuals that publish do not get much of a response back from their audience, said Olufs. He recalls writing to one scholar who was delighted to have received insight. Olufs has since maintained contact with that scholar as a result.

The other part of scholarly development involves managing to get a work published at all.
It is a “real accomplishment [to get published], Martin said. “It’s very competitive, very difficult.”

There are different publisher grades of competitiveness, too. When it comes to collaborative works with students, Grahe said he would aim for a lower ranking publisher for these pieces.
Getting published means that “we did something,” that students asked relevant questions, Grahe said. That is part of the student-learning process, being able to not only answer questions but also being able to ask the right ones, Grahe said.