Abstract
Problem. University administrators and public policy officials need reliable information regarding the characteristics and behavior of outstanding professors in public comprehensive universities to increase institutional effectiveness. This study examined outstanding professors in The California State University as a population, and compared their productivity, perceptions, and attitudes on teaching and scholarly activities, job satisfaction, stress, and organizational climate with national normative data of faculty at public universities. Methodology. A questionnaire was sent to sixty-nine faculty finalists nominated for the Outstanding Professor Award in The California State University between 1990 and 1995. The instrument included items from national surveys conducted by The Carnegie Foundation and the Higher Education Research Institute. Findings. This study found that outstanding professor finalists were typically full-professors, employed at their university for 16 years and nominated for the award 12 years after receiving tenure and 20 years after acquiring their terminal degree. Sixty-four percent were men and 81% were white/Caucasian. Outstanding professors exceed the national norm in articles published in journals, chapters published in edited volumes, and professional writings accepted or published in the last two years. Outstanding professors would prefer to spend more time on research and scholarship, consulting and service. Most outstanding professors favorably rate the institutional climate in the CSU, but disagree that the CSU infrastructure adequately supports scholarly pursuits. Outstanding professors are less satisfied with teaching load than the norm group. Leading satisfiers are academic freedom and administrative acknowledgement of professional achievements. The leading dissatisfier is insufficient support for professional travel. No significant difference exists between male and female outstanding professors regarding overall level of job satisfaction or job related stress. Outstanding faculty support the concept of merit pay as an extrinsic reward. Factors which contribute to their success include personal attributes; professional expertise; student focus and autonomy. Recommendations. Establish faculty development programs at each campus. Reduce instructional workload. Support scholarly pursuits and increase funding for professional travel. Implement reward systems, including compensation incentives, and continue recognition through Outstanding Professor Awards. Emphasize and realign institutional values with resources. Provide state-of-the-art computerized workstations to all faculty.