Faculty Motivation and Policies

1. Faculty Motivation and Policies Steven R. Hall Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Chair of the MIT Faculty

2. Faculty Motivation and Policies • Faculty processes (hiring, promotion and tenure,  with criteria) • Faculty duties and responsibilities • MIT governance • Faculty motivation

3. Faculty Hiring • Department or unit may initiate a search if authorized by Dean of their school • Each school has a limited number of faculty slots • Dean may influence strategic direction of school or department by type of hire authorized • Faculty search committee within department organizes search • Places advertisements for candidates • Reviews candidate applications (curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, publications) • Selects candidates for interview visit • Makes recommendation to Department Head • Department Head makes request to Dean, who approves (or not) the request

4. Faculty Hiring • MIT and other elite universities will receive very many applications (100-200 or more) for each available position. • We are looking for candidates that we expect will be among the top scholars in their peer group • Ultimately, ~60% of faculty hired at the assistant professor level will be tenured, but every hire is made with the expectation that the candidate is capable of being tenured. • Competition for best candidates is significant. Candidates are attracted by • Reputation of department • Access to good graduate students and postdocs • Access to facilities • Startup packages

5. Tenure and Promotion at MIT • Four ranks: • Assistant Professor • Associate Professor without Tenure (after ~4 years) • Associate Professor with Tenure (after 6th year) • Full Professor

6. Tenure and Promotion Criteria • Associate without Tenure: • Must be making satisfactory progress toward tenure • Must be an outstanding candidate among his or her peers • Appointment must advance the Institute's educational mission. • Associate (with Tenure): • Must be first rank among scholars • Must show promise of continued scholarship • Must demonstrate outstanding teaching and university service • Full Professor: • Must be first rank among scholars and international leaders • Must have demonstrated excellent mentoring • Must have made sustained, high quality contributions to teaching and other educational activities • Must have demonstrated leadership in service to their profession and to MIT.

7. Tenure Processes • Senior faculty of department review candidate, and advise Department Head whether to advance case • Department Head seek letters of recommendation (~15) from faculty and scholars inside and outside MIT. (Majority of letters are from outside MIT.) • Department Head assembles case based on letters, curriculum vitae, statement by candidate. Senior faculty in department advise Department Head whether to advance case. • Department Head presents to school council (Department Heads in school plus dean). School council votes whether to advance case. • Dean presents to Academic Council (President, Provost, School deans, Chair of Faculty,and a few others). Academic Council votes whether to promote/tenure. • President recommends to MIT Corporation whether to tenure

8. Faculty duties and responsibilities • Faculty responsibilities include • Initiation and conduct of research • Teaching • Service to the Institute and the broader community (professional societies, journals, governmental committees, etc.) • Proportion of time spent in each type of activity varies somewhat depending on the institution and field • Tenure and promotion requires high levels of performance in all three areas. • Greatest emphasis is placed on research accomplishments

9. Governance at MIT • MIT, like most American universities, has a shared governance system, in which the affairs of the university are a shared responsibility of the Administration and the Faculty. • In some areas, Administration acts with power • E.g., Personnel matters (hiring, awarding tenure, salary compensation) • In other areas, Faculty act with power • Academic programs and requirements. • In almost all areas, Faculty and Administration work together to achieve the goals of the Institute

10. Faculty Governance Structure • Two important components of faculty governance system: • Formal governance system • Elected Faculty officers • Elected Faculty committees • Faculty meeting system • Some universities have an elected faculty Senate instead of an open meeting system • Other committees established by Administration, schools, or departments

11. Formal Governance System • Faculty meet in a parliamentary session once a month • Each year, Faculty elect • Chair, Associate Chair, and Secretary • Members of 10 standing committees • Some standing committees act with power • Faculty Policy Committee, Committee on Graduate Programs, Committee on Undergraduate Program, Committee on Curricula, Committee on Academic Performance, Committee on Discipline • Some standing committees are advisory to Administration • Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Aid, Committee on Student Life, Committee on the Library System, Committee on Outside Professional Activities, Committee of Campus Planning

12. Example: Development of new degree • Begins with department or group of faculty with an interest in developing a new degree (e.g., Computer Science and Molecular Biology) • Faculty committee tasked with developing particulars of degree program • Development of new subjects, degree requirements, resource requirements • Degree proposal is reviewed by Faculty and Administration • Committees on Curricula, Undergraduate Programs, Policy • Academic Council • Degree program is voted on by full Faculty

13. Faculty Motivation • What motivates faculty to perform well in teaching research, and service? • Hiring, tenure, and promotion processes select for people who are passionate about research and teaching • Intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic rewards • Shared governance system is crucial to overall success of MIT (or any first-rank institution) • Faculty have a stake in the success of the institution • Faculty believe that can make a difference