Professional Service: Improving the Prospects

Abstract

Most universities in America include in their mission statements the functions of teaching, scholarly activity, and service. Taking my own university system as an example, its Board of Regents in 1989 stated the core mission of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Campuses to "meet the educational and personal needs of students through effective teaching, " and to "expect scholarly activity, including research, scholarship, and creative endeavor that supports its programs," and "encourage faculty and staff participation in outreach activity." This tripartite mission for institutions of higher education is replicated in the definition of the role of the faculty. Personnel documents in these universities typically define the faculty role in terms of these same three categories: teaching, scholarly activity, and service.