Carnegie Study: Colleges Do Not Stress Teaching

Many of the nation's major research universities are neglecting the importance of teaching, according to a report released this week by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The 360-page study on American academia, based on interviews with more than 200 faculty members at 16 colleges and universities, says too many institutions base tenure decisions on professors' research and scholarly writings rather than the quality of their teaching.

"The greatest paradox of academic work in modern America is that most professors teach most of the time, and large proportions of them teach all the time, but teaching is not the activity most rewarded by the academic profession nor most valued by the system at large," the report states. "Trustees and administrators in one sector after another praise teaching and reward research."

"The research universities have many things to do and it's no surprise they emphasize research first," said Burton R. Clark, a professor of education and sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrotethe report. "They simply can't concentrate onundergraduates."

In a foreword to the report, Ernest L. Boyer,the foundation's president, wrote thatuniversities should not neglect teaching in orderto remain on the `cutting edge' of academicresearch.

He added that "to make matters worse, goodteachers who spend `too much' time with studentsare regarded as men and women with misplacedacademic goals."

"Elevating teachers and teaching to a higherposition in the hierarchy of the academicprofession, while sustaining and enriching thetradition of scholarship and research, is one ofthe most urgent priorities confronting highereducation," Boyer added.

Boyer said that "the greatest responsibilityfor leadership" in recovering the importance ofteaching in educational institutions lies with thelarge research universities, on account of theinfluence they command in the profession.

"These institutions are at the top of theprestige ladder and they are most likely to bewatched and emulated," Boyer said. "If theyneglect good teaching, other institutions arelikely to undervalue it as well."

The report drew conclusions chiefly frominterviews with professors at Stanford, theUniversity of Michigan and the University of NorthCariolina. It did not include interviews withHarvard faculty members.

At Harvard, Associate Dean for UndergraduateEducation David Pilbeam said that Harvard doesweigh teaching heavily in the tenure process,although he acknowledged that "it is always goingto be a challenge" to ensure that Universityprofessors balance teaching with research.

"Tenure appointments here do consider teachingvery seriously," Pilbeam said.

The report says that the increasing use of lessqualified part-time instructors to teach in largecourses is a further sign of universities' neglectfor teaching. Such instructors, Boyer said in theforeword, "are rarely regarded as full members ofthe campus community and are not expected toassume responsibilities or enjoy rewardscommensurate with those of full-time academics.