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Faculty accountability and faculty workload: A preliminary cost analysis of their relationship as revealed by PhD productivity

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Abstract

General concerns for faculty accountability are examined in the context of faculty workload and costs. Graduating a PhD student is used as the unit for analysis. The unit is compared to instructional productivity. The data came from a 10-year interval at a major graduate university. Six liberal arts departments with a 225-member faculty provide the PhD output and workload information. Work equivalents are determined from institutional and faculty self-reports. Graduating a PhD is found to be equivalent to one-third of a full workload. Implications are given for comparisons between programs within a university and between types of institutions in the larger system of higher education. Concerns also emerge for improved personnel practices with respect to faculty work assignments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

    Robert T. Blackburn (Professor of Higher Education)

  2. Planning and Institutional Analysis, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

    Keith W. Trowbridge (Director)

Authors
  1. Robert T. Blackburn
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  2. Keith W. Trowbridge
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Blackburn, R.T., Trowbridge, K.W. Faculty accountability and faculty workload: A preliminary cost analysis of their relationship as revealed by PhD productivity. Res High Educ 1, 1–12 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991561

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