BUSINESS PROGRAM

INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS POLICY

 

Introduction

 

Faculty in the College of Business Administration and Public Policy (CBAPP) departments of Accounting and Law, Computer Information Systems, Finance and Quantitative Methods, Management, and Marketing have prepared this policy in compliance with University PM 90-05 which requires Departmental Definitions of Scholarship and Creative Activity.  The purpose of this PM is to ensure that “faculty members being reviewed for reappointment, tenure, or promotion are aware of how their departments define scholarship and creative activity.”  In general, faculty are expected to make contributions in three areas: teaching, scholarly activities, and service.  These three areas of contribution are evaluated in the specific decisions listed below.   The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for faculty, administrators, and accreditation representatives in directing effort and evaluating scholarly activity regarding the following decisions:  1) academic qualification of faculty; 2) appointment, reappointment, tenure and promotion regarding the specific criteria of intellectual contributions; 3) awarding of research and publication assigned time.  This policy is effective immediately.

 

Publication Quality

 

The quality of faculty publications is important and high quality should be recognized and encouraged.  It is recognized that the quality of publications varies significantly as do the criteria by which quality is judged, due to significant differences between types of publications.  For example, quality criteria differ between a refereed journal article and a textbook.  High quality publications will receive more credit toward the decision categories of academic qualification; appointment, reappointment, tenure and promotion; and the awarding of research and publication assigned time.  By recognizing and providing quality guidelines faculty are encouraged to reach for higher levels of excellence.  Quality expectations vary across these decisions due to differences in workload expectations and choices and past practice.  Publication quality will be determined by overall reputation and perception of the publication or similar publications by academics in the discipline.  Publications are often judged by the number of times the work is cited by other colleagues.  The quality of books and monographs may also be judged by the number of copies sold and the level of recognition in the discipline.  Journal quality in particular may be manifested in measures such as acceptance rates, number of issues published (age), reputation of the editorial board and editor, sponsorship of the journal, number of reviewers and utilization of blind review and other relevant factors.  Many of these factors are found in Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities, which has directories for Accounting, Economics and Finance, Management, Marketing, and Computers.  It is recognized that none of these factors are definitive but considering many or all will yield a reasonable answer to the question of journal quality.  Article quality will be assumed to be related to journal quality but additionally be determined by knowledgeable individuals in the academic discipline.    Other factors, such as the number of coauthors may also be taken into consideration.  

 

Academically Qualified

 

Faculty must engage in scholarship to maintain currency in their disciplines and to be effective teachers.  Since publication is required to maintain accreditation, it is expected that faculty will publish articles in referred journals and other academic and related publications. To maintain academic qualification for accreditation purposes, a faculty member must have at least four scholarly publications in refereed journals (academic, professional, and pedagogical), research monographs, scholarly books, chapters in scholarly books, textbooks, proceedings from scholarly meetings, papers presented at academic or professional meetings, publicly available research working papers, papers presented at faculty research seminars, publications in trade journals, in-house journals, book reviews, written cases with instructional materials, instructional software, and other publicly available materials describing the design and implementation of new curricula and courses during the previous five years of which at least two must be refereed journal publications or equivalent[1] .  The fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) will be the unit of time.  The priority for graduate instruction will be given to faculty who have published at least two journal articles and two additional publications for a total of four scholarly publications in five years.  The preference of the School is to staff classes with academically qualified faculty. 

 

Appointment, Reappointment and Tenure of Probationary Faculty

 

Candidates for tenure track faculty appointment must show a record or the promise thereof that meets the expectation defined below for tenure and promotion to the associate level.  Probationary faculty are expected to have a minimum of three refereed journal articles or equivalent[2] over a five-year period in applying for tenure and promotion to associate professor in the fall of their sixth year of service.  Candidates are urged to go well beyond this minimum expectation.  It is understood that publications may be bunched; however, in order to be reappointed, probationary faculty, in consultation with their department chair, should have a plan and reasonable work in progress in order to reach the minimum expectation of three refereed journal articles or equivalent.  The various reappointment evaluating bodies will review that plan, works in progress, and publications relative to progress toward tenure annually and communicate to the probationary faculty their judgment.  The minimum publication expectation for promotion to professor is three refereed journal articles or equivalent[3] over a five year period.  Candidates are urged to go well beyond this minimum expectation. 

 

 Assigned Time for Publication

 

Probationary Faculty

Probationary faculty may be given publication assigned time during their probationary period as long as the faculty member demonstrates progress toward tenure and promotion guidelines.  In the event of limited resources available for publication assigned time, probationary faculty will have as high a priority for such assigned time as qualified tenured faculty by virtue of being probationary faculty in good standing.

 

Tenured Faculty

The publication expectation resulting from the granting of publication assigned time is one refereed journal publication or equivalent for six credits (units) of assigned time.  Future assigned time will be awarded on the basis of prior publication or scholarly work accepted for publication.  Thus, the major criterion is on work completed.  Generally, assigned time will be awarded annually, at the end of the spring semester.  A one semester grace period of assigned time (three credits) may be granted when past record and existing works in progress warrant.  The School will make every effort to fund publication assigned time for all qualifying faculty.  Faculty requiring a grace period will have lower priority than those who qualify.  The past five year record will discriminate among faculty who may be considered for a grace period.  Other scholarly activities that may warrant publication assigned time include the publication of cases, scholarly books, research monographs, textbooks, and refereed conference proceedings.  Source:  passed unanimously by the faculty of the departments in the business program (Accounting and Law, Finance and Quantitative Methods, Information Systems, Management, and Marketing, College of Business Administration and Public Policy, April 9, 2004.

 

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