Faculty perceptions of the impact of information technology on tenure and promotion decisions at technologically advanced institutions of higher education: Comparing perceptions of faculty at a teaching university to those of faculty at a research univer

The research examined faculty perceptions of the impact of computer-based projects (IT) as compared to the impact of the traditional criteria of teaching, research and service on tenure and promotion decisions at IT-intensive universities. Data were acquired by surveying all faculty members at a teaching university and a research university in New Jersey in April 1999. A total of 675 subjects were surveyed (teaching university, n = 350; research university, n = 325). The 1999 Yahoo's Internet Life named the two universities among "America's Most-Wired Campuses".;Using means, frequency distributions, factor analysis (Principal Component) and a two-way ANOVA, faculty perceptions of the impact of IT on tenure and promotions decisions at the teaching university were compared to those of faculty at the research university. The effect of various faculty demographic characteristics such as gender, age, rank and tenure status on faculty perceptions of the impact of IT, teaching related scholarship (publishing a monograph, a textbook or a section in a textbook), and traditional research activities (presenting a paper at a conference, publishing a paper in a refereed journal or writing a grant that gets funded) on tenure and promotion was examined using means, factor analysis and a two-way ANOVA. Frequency distributions were utilized to compare faculty perceptions of factors that might undermine consideration of IT in tenure and promotion at the teaching university to those of faculty at the research university.;Means revealed IT running a poor fourth in importance to teaching, research and service activities in reaching tenure and promotion decisions at both the teaching and research university.;Frequency distributions revealed faculty at the teaching university as being less aware of the role of IT in tenure and promotion than faculty at the research university.;Means as well two-way ANOVA revealed for the most part that faculty at the teaching university perceived a stronger role for IT in tenure and promotion decisions than faculty at the research university.;Younger faculty (those less than 50 years of age) perceived a weaker role for IT in tenure and promotion than older faculty (those who were 50 years and above).;Female faculty perceived a stronger role for teaching related scholarship and traditional scholarship in tenure and promotion decisions than male faculty.;Frequency distributions revealed faculty at the teaching university as being more aware of the factors that might undermine consideration of IT in tenure and promotion decisions than faculty at the research university. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...