Professors' Perceptions of Organizational Effectiveness

Professors' Perceptions of Organizational Effectiveness of Tenure In this era of finger-pointing, blame-shifting and acrimony, true educational reform frequently occurs in the midst of problematic vitriol. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the discussion of tenure in higher education. While those who advocate the institution of tenure value this as a protection of academic freedom for educators against political or administrative pressures, those who criticize it view this as a way of allowing aging, incompetent and disinterested educators to work to a mediocre standard without fear of reprisal.

This stark divide begs further investigation into the relationship between tenure and organizational effectiveness. Particularly, this research endeavor will proceed with an interest in measuring this relationship according to the perspective of professors, both tenured and non-tenured. The primary intention of this research will be to characterize the relationship between organizational effectiveness and tenure as those most directly impacted by the institution perceive it. Problem Statement: The core problem at the center of the research endeavor is the generally embattled status of tenure.

This prevents us from gaining a clear objective understanding of its true impact on organizational effectiveness. To the point, Wales (1996) contends that "the current climate is not hospitable to the notion of tenure, with public perceptions often quite negative. As Mary Bungen, general secretary of AAUP notes, 'Defending tenure in a period impatient with the past may seem like defending the fountain pen in the age of computers.'" (Wales, p.

3) This has a clear implications to the relative absence of meaningful assessment of how the presence or absence of tenure might relate to organizational performance. The failure or success or institutions of education to meet their stated goals certainly hinges on the quality of its professorship. It seems therefore reasonable to believe that any impact that tenure has on this level of quality will also be directly connected to organizational performance on the whole.

And quite to the point, the problem of our failure to effectively evaluate the impact of tenure on organizational effectiveness is underscored by the widespread permeation of tenure. According to Premaux (1997), "approximately 90% of all 4-year institutions in the United States have tenure systems, and 66% of all professors nationwide are estimated to be tenured." (Premaux, p. 349) Another dimension of the research problem that must be addressed through the research process is the qualification of the term 'organizational effectiveness.

As the text by Smart & Hamm (1993) indicates, efforts to improve the organizational effectiveness of American institutions of higher learning "have encountered serious questions about the conceptual meaning of effectiveness and how it is to be empirically defined and measured." (Smart & Hamm, p. 489) This will be a matter of considerable importance as we proceed with the present research.

Purpose Statement: Based on the various cogent arguments posed in favor of tenure, this research proceeds with the expectation that professorial perspectives will draw a direct correlation between the protection of this institution and the continuity of organizational effectiveness. According to Fishman (2000), "tenure protects the faculty member in three direct ways: 1) it safeguards academic freedom. .; 2) it ensures fair procedures when one is threatened with dismissal; and 3) building upon the second, it provides security of employment." (Fishman, p.

4) These arguments are sufficiently compelling to giving foundation to the purpose of the research endeavor. This is to provide an objective, professor-driven discussion on tenure with an expectation that this will produce an endorsement of the institution. The arguments provided by Fishman serves to reinforce the connection drawn in the section above between the ability of the educator to perform and the overall performance of the educational institution in question.

Indeed, there may even be some cause to believe that educational organizations on the whole recognize the necessity of such systems. As McPherson (1999) observes, "The idea that tenure is a wasteful.