'Tired' Professors Can Be Rejuvenated

At a recent national conference, colleagues from different academic disciplines but all worked in college or university teaching-improvement programs found that the subject most frequently discussed was how to improve the teaching of "tired" faculty members. Tired faculty members are most often senior professors who have worked at their institutions for many years. They have risen through the ranks to top positions and have earned tenure. Year after year, they teach the same courses, often with the same notes, and are simply not teaching as effectively as they did in the past or could do in the future. Recognizing that no specific strategy is likely to be effective in every case, the writer notes that the most successful institutions do one or more of the following: (1) Provide opportunities for reflection; (2) Teach faculty members new skills; (3) Offer financial support; (4) Establish mentor programs; (5) Combine student ratings with constructive suggestions; (5) Facilitate classroom innovation; (6) Assign short-term, nonteaching projects; (7) Videotape classroom instruction; (8) Help professors give something back; (9) Stimulate interdisciplinary or team teaching; (10) Create individual plans for growth; (11) Encourage legacy teaching portfolios; and (12) Support faculty exchanges. While acknowledging that adopting such steps does not mean that an institution will have no more tired faculty members, the writer advocates that it is probably that at least some will be a bit less fatigued.