Academics

Every year Beloit College releases its Mindset List. Although the list has its critics (http://www.beloitmindlessness.com/must-be-destroyed/) and it’s been parodied by The Onion, I always get a kick out of looking it over. It reminds me just how old I am. Here are a few gems from this year’s list:

• There has always been a digital swap meet called eBay.
• There have always been Cadillac Escalades.
• West Nile has always been a virus found in the US.
• They have never had to watch or listen to programs at a scheduled time.
• Vaccines have always erroneously been linked to autism.
• They have no memory of Bob Dole promoting Viagra.
• John Elway and Wayne Gretzky have always been retired.

Last Friday, the American Sociological Association released a subcommittee report entitled What counts? Evaluating public communication in tenure and promotion. It suggests that public communication of research can be assessed along three axes:

• Type of content: explanatory journalism, opinion, application of research to a practical issue
• Rigor and quality of the communication: peer-reviewed, edited, non-edited, effectiveness of communication for the intended audience
• Public impact: number of readers, breadth of influence on policy or practice

Amy Schalet, Director of the Public Engagement Project at UMass Amherst, argues that public communication should be included in faculty evaluations, because when we include it, “we encourage [faculty] to share their knowledge with the members of society who could most benefit from it.”

I agree, but as always, the devil is in the details. Among the questions I wrestle with are:

• To what extent is public communication of scholarly work an aspect of scholarly achievement?
• Should public communication be regarded primarily as service in the tenure triad of teaching, research, and service?
• Is public communication worthwhile only if it leads to changes in public policy or professional practice? Is it worthwhile if it leads “only” to greater aesthetic appreciation of the human or natural world?

The University of Connecticut has been recognized as a “Community Engaged” campus by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching since 2010 (ref). These are clearly among the questions that we need to answer.