Abstract
This document presents four summaries of group discussions addressing challenges frequently faced by communication administrators. The first summary examines approaches to sustaining faculty morale amid declining resources. Participants emphasized the value of clear merit evaluation systems, opportunities for professional exchange, flexible role assignments, and recognition that administrative influence depends on articulating coherent program priorities. The second summary addresses the proliferation of communication courses taught outside communication units, expressing concern that such developments diminish disciplinary coherence, weaken departmental status, and erode academic rigor. The third summary focuses on the difficulty of addressing unsatisfactory performance among tenured faculty, outlining strategies such as structured post tenure review, targeted counseling, sabbaticals, development leaves, teaching enhancement centers, interinstitutional exchanges, early retirement options, and rank specific tenure practices. The fourth summary centers on debates about the value and consequences of tenure, including its relationship to academic freedom, administrative authority, faculty productivity, and perceptions of disciplinary credibility. Across all four discussions, participants grapple with the tension between administrative power and powerlessness and the need to balance institutional demands with faculty welfare.
Recommended Citation
Patton, Bobby R.; Powell, Jon T.; Ostermeier, Terry H.; and Goldberg, Alvin
(1985)
"Group Discussion of Common Problems,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 52, Article 17.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol52/iss1/17
