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Faculty Motivation and Policies

Steven R. HallProfessor of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Chair of the MIT Faculty

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• Faculty processes (hiring, promotion and tenure, with criteria)

• Faculty duties and responsibilities

• MIT governance

• Faculty motivation

Faculty Motivation and Policies

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• 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

Faculty Hiring

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• 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

Faculty Hiring

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Four ranks:• Assistant Professor• Associate Professor without Tenure (after ~4 years)• Associate Professor with Tenure (after 6th year)• Full Professor

Tenure and Promotion at MIT

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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.

Tenure and Promotion Criteria

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• 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

Tenure Processes

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• 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

Faculty duties and responsibilities

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• 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

Governance at MIT

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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

Faculty Governance Structure

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• 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

Formal Governance System

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• 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

Example: Development of new degree

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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

Faculty Motivation