Defining Research Productivity:It Depends Upon Who You Are
Susan Mallon Ross
LaRae M. Donnellan
Definitions of "research productivity" vary, depending upon a person's position within a university. University administrators and the deans, department chairs, and faculty in a college of agriculture at a northeastern university agree that "ideal" productive scientists are self-directed, do research that answers important questions, communicate results in appropriate ways, and are recognized by the scientific community and others they serve. However, Respondents differ about how productivity should be measured. University administrators tend to emphasize the importance of a national reputation and publication in refereed journals; whereas college deans, department chairs, and faculty tend to support a variety of outputs and practices. Administrators and faculty must negotiate an acceptable definition, complete with institutional support, rewards, and sanctions.
Dr. Susan Mallon Ross is an Assistant Professor of Technical Communications at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. Dr. LaRae M. Donnellan, an ACE member for 20 years, is Extension Professor and Head of the Agricultural Communications Center at the University of Idaho, Moscow. Ross and Donnellan received their doctorates in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Another version of this paper was presented at the Speech Communication
Association meeting in Atlanta, GA, October 31, 1991.
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