With a greater emphasis on teaching and service at the Commonwealth Campuses, some professors think a different tenure track is necessary for them.

Diane Turner, a communications instructor at the New Kensington Campus, said the needs of Commonwealth Campus professors are different from those of University Park professors.

A professor at a Commonwealth Campus interacts more with students; therefore, promotions should be determined not only by research, but by involvement with students, service to the campus and teaching, Turner said.

"It's not fair in my opinion," she said about the current route to attaining tenure, referred to as a tenure track.

Turner said she doesn't want to choose between researching and teaching and helping students.

"You should have a choice between research and teaching," Turner said. "If I'm always doing research, I can't concentrate on teaching and helping out the students."

Turner said she focuses on teaching more, but added that if the tenure policy changes for the campuses, she would not neglect keeping up with her field.

Greg Lalle (senior-economics), outgoing coordinator of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, said he "wholeheartedly" agreed with Turner and said the issue of a new tenure track for Commonwealth Campuses is not new.

The teaching load for a Commonwealth Campus professor is much greater than that of a professor at University Park, Lalle said, adding that teaching and office hours are emphasized more.

"There's a different focus," Lalle said. "It's unfair to put everyone under the same umbrella."

Marilyn Eastridge, a member of the University Faculty Senate and the Faculty Affairs Committee, said all faculty should contribute to the four considerations of tenure. The considerations are: teaching effectiveness, research and creativity, scholarship and service, she said.

But tenure and promotion should be based on one's individual job description, Eastridge said.

So if a job description requires a heavy teaching load, then teaching should be weighted when professors are up for promotion, she said. And if heavy research is required, then research should be weighted, she added.

Linda Shoop, associate professor of educational psychology at the New Kensington Campus, said that although the four considerations of tenure track are fair, balancing teaching and research is tough.

"In order to be a well-rounded teacher, you need to do research," Shoop said.

Shoop, the faculty director of the on-campus child-care center, attributed part of the problem to professors' needs to learn to refuse other activities.

"We just have to learn to set our priorities and say no," she said.

Richard Caram, assistant professor of theater at the Altoona Campus, said researching in his field is strange and consists of going out and directing shows. The University doesn't expect him to do a lot of writing, he said.

But researching becomes a problem unless he directs in the summer, because he teaches class during the fall and spring, he said.