Post-Tenure Review Research: Ethical Concerns
When conducting exploratory research upon human subjects, the researcher must always weigh the potential benefits of the research with the potential costs that might be incurred by the individuals under scrutiny. The proposed topic of research, of "Post-tenure review," can yield valuable knowledge for professors, departments, and students alike. As institutions of higher learning are being forced to educate students with fewer financial resources, instituting procedures to target the most effective faculty, and improve pedagogical procedures amongst tenured faculty is essential.
Such research does not present some of the ethical problems of medical or scientific experimental research: there are no physical risks to the subjects. However, privacy concerns are an important ethical issue that may be of concern to professors, students, and administrators. First of all, the subjects in the study must not be obviously identified in a way that could impact the students' or professors' careers at their current institutions or later in life. However, some identifying information is necessary to evaluate the length of time the subject has spent at an institution, their department, professors' publishing records, and other issues that arise when conducting the review process of professors and evaluating teaching records.
Additionally, if subjects are considered to have been given a negative post-tenure review by faculty members or students, the professors might have an alternative view they wish to share with the researches. Allowing professors, students, and administrators to give anecdotal evidence to add context to the statistics compiled about departments that conduct post-tenure review and those departments that do not is essential. But the selected interviews must be balanced demographically so that a variety of views and voices are representative. Subjects must be assured that their results are confidential and any obvious identifiers are not recorded in the report, otherwise they may be less than candid.
