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JulyAugust2007

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Four Forms of Scholarship In 1990, Ernest Boyer, president of the Carnegie Founda- tion for the Advancement of Teaching, lamented that many elite academic institutions had shifted their focus from teaching to research—a trend that seems to have contin- ued unabated over the last 15 years. Boyer wanted univer- sities to broaden their definition of scholarship to include four different forms that contribute equally to the academy: No. 1: Research and teaching are fundamentally incompatible. We can make a strong case that research and teaching compete, often in a zero-sum way, for a professor's time, energy, and commitment. As researchers progressively focus on their investigations, their teaching often suffers—they lack the time required to place their discoveries into a context con- ducive to instruction and learning, or to thoroughly prepare teaching materials that may not be directly relevant to their research. In addition, personality differences come into play. Researchers are often "lone wolves," introverts driven by contemplative reflection, while teachers tend to be "clan creatures," extroverts who thrive on lively dialogue with students and colleagues. New Models at Work The importance of great research to management education is indisputable. Still, several business schools are developing new systems of recognition and reward to make sure excellence in the classroom gets its due. Tenure Tracks The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business A recently revised promotion and tenure system at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University in Colum- bus rewards faculty performance in two areas: knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination. Knowledge creation is defined by the college as "any activity that leads to the production of new knowledge, new insights, creative synthe- sis of existing knowledge, and new methods." Knowledge dissemination is defined as "any activity that leads to the application of knowledge to practical problems, education of students, and the development of instructional materials or methodologies." To be granted tenure, faculty at Fisher College must demonstrate acceptable performance in one category and potential for excellence in the other. For teachers, "accept- able performance" involves receiving "good" or better teaching evaluations, among other criteria. To demonstrate "potential for excellence," they must consistently receive "good" to "excellent" teaching evaluations and demonstrate a national reputation for leadership in developing teaching modules, cases, and other materials. 34 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2007 n Discovery. This form of scholarship refers to traditional research, in which academicians think about problems from unrestricted new perspectives and pursue knowledge for its own sake. n Integration. This form emphasizes the need to make con- nections and extend discoveries across disciplines. n Application. This form refers to the investigation into how knowledge derived from discovery and integration can be applied to important practical or social problems. n Teaching. The final form involves the dissemination of knowl - edge to students in the classroom and the public at large. Many business schools extend the highest privileges—in terms of senior professorships, endowed chairs, tenure, funding, and other perquisites—to those who excel in the scholarship of discovery. They do so even though those who excel in other forms of scholarship may be better teachers. However, Boyer's framework offers all schools an opportunity to recognize different forms of inquiry and dif- ferent paths to academic excellence. Since the revision, very few attempts have been made to gain tenure or promotion based on knowledge dissemination, administrators say. One explanation is that tenure-track faculty are still primarily recruited and selected from research institu- tions that are more skilled in knowledge creation. Attention to Audiences Harvard Business School The tenure and promotion system at Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is designed around the idea of three audiences: scholars, educators, and practitioners. For fac- ulty to earn promotions, they must demonstrate that they have made a meaningful impact on one audience and have clear potential to impact a second. To demonstrate an impact on scholars, for example, faculty prove themselves via traditional research vehicles, such as the publication of articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, the publication of books and book chapters. The quality of the outlet and the rate of citation are standard metrics. To demonstrate an impact on educators, faculty write case studies, create plans for classroom design and delivery, and develop modules. The modules they create must offer broader treatments of methods for interconnecting various material around core themes, among other classroom-related work. Finally, to demonstrate an impact on practitioners, faculty

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