Faculty practice as a requirement for promotion and tenure: receptivity, risk, and threats perceived

The purpose of this study was to determine the receptivity of nurse faculty to the proposal of adding faculty practice as an additional requirement for promotion and tenure and to investigate the perceived risk and threats from introduction of this proposal. Factors that affect the risk faculty perceived are examined. Nurse educators from all faculty ranks in public nursing programs in 15 states in the southern region of the United States served as subjects for this study (N = 280). Findings indicate that nurse faculty are more receptive than resistant to the proposal requiring faculty practice as a requirement for promotion and tenure. A high negative correlation exists between receptivity to the proposal and the risk faculty perceived from implementation of the proposal A measure of the threat to job prerequisites correlated moderately with the risk faculty perceived from the proposal, with specific threats and benefits perceived by faculty identified. Implications for administrators and faculty are discussed.