Tenure difficult for overloaded UI professors

Peter Sauer, professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, reads an Associated Press article announcing President White's resignation in his office in Everitt Laboratory on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009.
Wesley Fane The Daily Illini

Administrative duties and tenure requirements for faculty members at the University often go unnoticed.

Barbara Wilson, vice provost for academic affairs, said it is difficult to determine the teaching load for faculty, as it varies between colleges and departments. However, she said the maximum teaching load for faculty, both tenured and on track to receive tenure, is four courses a year.

Peter Sauer, professor in electrical and computer engineering since 1977, said faculty are expected to teach, serve on University committees, conduct research and contribute back to their professions through involvement in professional organizations.

He said a full-time faculty member in his department should teach eight classes over nine months, the length of a faculty member's contract. He said that number is based on a course that seats about 30 students and fulfills three credit hours.

Sauer said advising students and serving on University committees cuts the teaching requirement to six classes per nine months. An additional three classes are fulfilled by performing research.

"We are suppose to be half–time research, half–time teaching," Sauer said. "We are expected to write proposals to get funding, supervise graduate students and involve undergrads in research."

He said the time he spends on research does not put students at a disadvantage, rather benefiting them.

"They are getting taught the normal teaching content, and they are getting exposed to research," he said. "But they also benefit by getting exposed to higher level technical advancements that creep into your class, and you hire undergraduate research assistants interested in your work."

Leon Dash, journalism professor and director of the Center for Advanced Study, said faculty who are on the tenure track must publish papers in well–known journals, conduct research and possibly write a book in addition to their teaching and administrative duties. One way a professor can bypass teaching duties for a semester is by becoming a fellow or associate of the Center for Advanced Study, which supports scholarly projects.

Dash said faculty that are excused from teaching to pursue research work is helpful to professors seeking promotion.

"With that time off he can complete his research and get tenure, and then he is more accessible to students," he said. "If he doesn't get that material finished, it reduces his chances of getting tenure."

Masumi Iriye, associate director of the center, said obtaining time for research allows faculty to do it unencumbered.

Wilson said faculty are evaluated for tenure based on teaching, research and service.

She added at a top-tier research institution, a faculty member cannot get tenure based on teaching alone. Yet, it would be difficult to become a tenured professor as a poor teacher, she said.

Wilson said the University spends a lot of time and energy to improve the teaching skills of faculty members.

She said teaching should not just be measured by classroom instruction time, but also by time spent out of the classroom with students.

Wilson, who is also a professor in the department of communication, said that she met with an undergraduate student last year who worked with her every week for an hour.

"In our mind teaching is more broad," she said. "It also includes mentoring graduate students, and getting undergraduates involved in research."