On Second Thought . . .

I note that many of my fellow deans at teaching universities are encountering a maddening problem that is unlikely to surface at research universities where research is so clearly tied to tenure and promotion.

In what seems to be increasing numbers, entry-level faculty members who are hired to teach a certain set of courses in their department decide that they would rather teach other courses (usually new courses that they’ve developed).

What’s aggravating is that often that leads to a new search in their original area of expertise, which is a very difficult sell for a dean.

When the vice president for academic affairs says, “Didn’t we just hire a medieval fish farming expert?,” it’s hard to say, “Well, she’s decided to teach courses in medieval film adaptations now.”

More complicated are similar situations where a dually credentialed faculty member moonlights in another department, only to slide into a teaching load that is heavier on the second department’s courses.

So, how can we handle distracted faculty members without appearing to be draconian?