“You Can Help Me with That?”: Creating a Program of Faculty Research Support at a Regional Comprehensive University

Abstract

About 80% of faculty members in the United States are currently conducting academic research. As teaching methods evolve and service and administrative duties grow, it is an ongoing challenge for faculty to maintain their research productivity. Publications are essential for tenure track progression, but the expectation to publish and disseminate research leads to added stress, and faculty often find themselves overwhelmed by the competing demands on their time. At the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Oshkosh, one of 11 regional comprehensive universities in the University of Wisconsin System, 93% of our faculty reported working more than 40 hours a week.