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Understanding and predicting faculty intent to leave is important to the development of improved conceptual frameworks of faculty success as well as the implementation of effective retention strategies for academic leaders and institutions that invest considerable resources in recruitment, institutional support, and compensation. This study examined the relationship between various research-based factors and faculty intent to leave by integrating components identified in the extant literature for employee turnover more generally and faculty intent to leave more specifically. The results of binary logistic regression models identified workplace stress, being in a "soft-pure" discipline, fewer years of service at the university, and higher research productivity as key predictors of faculty having considered leaving for another institution. Key predictors for faculty having considered leaving academe altogether were being in a "hard-applied" discipline, not having a spouse or partner, a perceived lack of support, a perceived lack of fit, stress of raising a family, and dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the "faculty job". The implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

Although recent results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggest there is considerable variation in levels of undergraduate student engagement within Carnegie institutional classifications, research also suggests different classifications of institutions exhibit different types (Pike and Kuh, 2005) and levels (Pike, Kuh and Gonyea, 2003) of student engagement. However, an important question that requires additional examination is the potential relationship between particular engagement variables and various outcomes of interest to students and institutions. Given the time and resource limitations that faculty, staff, and administrators face in their efforts to improve academic quality, analyses that move beyond norm-based or statistical comparisons and test empirical relationships within theory-based models of quality in undergraduate education may provide a more effective means to focus improvement efforts. This study examines student-reported learning and development factor scores, the likelihood of persistence, and students' ratings of their overall educational experience based on NSSE responses from over 1,500 first-year and senior students in 2004 at a large, research-extensive university. Using Chickering and Gamson's (1987) "Seven Principles for Effective Practice in Undergraduate Education" as a conceptual framework to guide variable selection, the results of four models suggest that a high level of academic challenge, institutional emphasis on academic work and studying, and prompt feedback on academic performance may provide the most productive avenues for enhancing the impact and quality of undergraduate education at large, research-extensive universities. Possible explanations and potential implications of these and other findings for students, faculty members, institutional leaders, policymakers, and accrediting bodies are discussed. (Contains 7 tables and 1 figure.)

The concept of student engagement is receiving increased attention from researchers, higher education leaders, and the general public in recent years. This increased attention represents a shift from the more traditional "resource and reputation" model of academic quality to a model that emphasizes institutional best practices and student experiences that enhance student learning and development. At the same time, institutions and the public face rising operating costs of costs of attendance. However, relatively little effort has been made to explore the potential relationship between these two important research and policy areas. This study examined the relationship between institutional expenditures and student engagement based on data from 142 colleges and universities. The results of an OLS multiple regression model, including a factor for student engagement as the dependent variable, suggest that administrative expenditures are negatively related to student engagement. These results support further exploration of potential complex causal links between expenditures and engagement and may provide support for initiatives to reverse historical trends and adjust institutional spending. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)