Research Article (Preprint): “Academic Librarians’ Changing Perceptions of Faculty Status and Tenure”

The following approved for publication article is scheduled for final publication in the May 1, 2017 issue of College and Research Libraries (C&RL).
Title

Academic Librarians’ Changing Perceptions of Faculty Status and Tenure

Authors
Elise Silva
Brigham Young University

Quinn Galbraith
Brigham Young University

Michael Groesbeck
Brigham Young University

Source
via C&RL Website
Abstract

This study explores how time and experience affect an academic librarian’s perception of tenure. Researchers surveyed 846 librarians at ARL institutions, reporting on institutions that offer both tenure and faculty status for their academic librarians or neither. The survey reported how librarians rated tenure’s benefit to patrons, its effect in attracting and retaining quality employees, and tenure as a motivating factor in giving extra effort on the job. Researchers found that tenured librarians rated tenure as more beneficial than librarians without tenure who had more than six years of work experience at their institutions. Furthermore, non-tenure track librarians with fewer than six years of experience at their institutions rated tenure’s effect on library patrons as more beneficial than tenure-track librarians who had not yet achieved tenure. The study implies a selective perception bias on the part of academic librarians which grows with time, and warrants further consideration and study.

Full Text Article (27 pages; PDF; Preprint)

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