Constant Vigilance, Babelfish, and Foot Surgery: Perspectives on Faculty Status and Tenure for Academic Librarians

Abstract

Faculty status and tenure for academic librarians are topics of continuous discussion. The rationales for having a tenure system have relevance for librarians but affect librarians differently than they do other faculty. A well-conceived tenure system can enhance a library's vitality and effectiveness, but maintaining the system requires commitment by faculty and administrators, understanding differences in faculty cultures, documentation, communication, understanding peer review, and support for scholarly work. Several idiosyncratic perspectives on tenure for librarians, including lessons to be learned from single-sex colleges, computer translation programs, and figure skating are offered.

A Typology of Librarian Status at Land Grant Universities

“…Counterarguments include evidence of librarians' eagerness to embrace scholarly responsibilities, such as R. Dean Galloway 23 and E. J. Josey, 24 the assertion that academic librarians have no choice but to be part of scholarly culture and activity, e.g., Beverly Toy 25 and Eli M. Oboler, 26 and, more recently, the idea that librarians, like faculty in other fields, can make the best scholarly contribution by being true to the particular values, practices, and expertise of their field, including Janet Swan Hill. 27,28 Martin Joachim 29 looks at the origins of the issue and its development up until the time he was writing, nearly forty years ago. As academic libraries grew larger, there was a growing recognition of the professional and scholarly expertise of librarians.…”

“…33 Hill amplifies these themes further, asserting that maintaining a faculty status system for librarians requires "constant vigilance" with regard to their status, because the story may need to be told to every new provost and various teaching colleagues. 34 Judith A. Segal 35 describes the efforts of the Library Association of the City Colleges of New York (LACCNY) to obtain faculty status. The group spent the years from 1939 to 1965 attempting to achieve their goal.…”

“…Carver, 41 and a number of studies that present and analyze the arguments for and against, including Mark Y. Herring and Michael Gorman, 42 Fred Hill and Robert Hauptmann, 43 Janet Swan Hill, 44 Donald E. Riggs, 45 Louise S. Sherby, 46 Norman E. Tanis, 47 and Beth J. Shapiro. 48 Diane E. Ruess 49 argues for more choice in librarian appointments, while Philip J. Jones and James Stivers 50 find the separation between librarians and other library employees counter-productive.…”

Academic Librarians’ Changing Perceptions of Faculty Status and Tenure

“…12 Faculty status has been described as counterintuitive to the library profession given that the daily realities and responsibilities of librarians differ so much from those of faculty outside the library. 13 Such differences can sometimes cloud and confuse a librarian's professional identity, as shown by new research from Shin Freedman.…”

Assessing Library Scholarship: Experience at a Land Grant University

“…3 This percentage increases in those land grant universities granting doctorates to 68 percent, compared to 50 percent in the general faculty librarian population. 4 At times, convincing university tenure review committees of the value of library scholarship presents challenges. Hill makes a convincing argument for faculty status but understands that the review process has not been adapted to our needs or approaches.…”