Faculty Dispositions: Seeking Clarity While Looking at Muddy Waters

Abstract

If one reads the paper or listens to the news, professional disposition are almost becoming critical job skills in the world of work. Similarly, faculty dispositions, defined in this article as “attitudes, values, and beliefs demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal behaviors as educators interact with students, families, colleagues, and communities” (NCATE, 2007), are becoming increasingly important as the demands on faculty members increase. Many individuals in higher education can cite examples of individuals acting or treating others in ways that were less than fair or ethical with few, if any, consequences.

In an attempt to define those behaviors important to higher education faculty, the authors of this article initiated a series of studies done in five phases that were designed to achieve that end. In addition, they developed a method for articulating standards of excellence that could be used in a variety of ways, including yearly faculty evaluations or pre tenure or tenure reviews. Suggestions from various sectors in academe provided an initial list of behaviors which were then reduced via focus group discussions and survey data collection resulting in a list of 56 items. A second survey examined the differences in perceptions about the significance of the dispositions between several paired groups: (a) administrators and nonadministrators, (b) Research 1 institutions and comprehensive or small colleges (referred to as “Other” institutions), (c) males and females, and (d) tenured and nontenured faculty members. The greatest variance was with the gender and tenure pairings. The article concludes with a rubric based on these 56 items that departments can use for a variety of purposes as they seek clarity in the muddy waters of dealing with faculty dispositions.