Culverhouse Statement of Research

Research scholarship is an essential part of University life and development, and it encompasses the many pursuits that broaden and expand the learning communities in which faculty function and the University is situated.

The University of Alabama’s strategic plan states Goal #2 as: “Increase the University’s productivity and innovation in research, scholarship and creative activities that impact economic and societal development.” Consistent with this goal, the Culverhouse College of Business strives to increase its productivity and innovation in research scholarship conducted at the highest level of integrity and ethics. Specifically, the long-range vision of the College is to be recognized internationally as a leading business school shaping the future of business based on its reputation, in part, of “research contributions by internationally acclaimed scholars” (2018 AACSB self-report). Further, the College’s strategic plan Goal #2 states that the college will “Develop thought leaders who enhance our research profile through continuous collaboration with faculty, staff, students, and external stakeholders.” Enhancing the College’s research profile and reputation rests on three major goals:

• Producing high-quality scholarly research that demonstrably impacts business,industry, and society.
• Increasing the total amount of externally funded research expenditures.
• Inclusion in internationally-recognized lists of top research business schools, e.g., the UT Dallas 100 list.

The Culverhouse College of Business values traditional scholarly contributions (i.e., publications in top academic journals). However, it also acknowledges that other contributions meet the definition of scholarly activity, support the mission of the Culverhouse College of Business, and are consistent with The University of Alabama Faculty Handbook (Chapter 2). There is a broad range of scholarly activity outside of journal publications, including (but not limited to):

• Securing funded research (federal, state, or local funding agencies; foundations; industry) for research
• Writing scholarly books and monographs
• Participating in interdisciplinary collaborations
• Consulting/collaborating with industry to resolve important business problems
• Writing research reports in connection with research grants or contracts
• Creating software
• Creating new databases used in research, business decision making, and/or policymaking
• Securing patents or copyrights
• Participating in efforts that influence or inform public policy

In considering the impact of scholarly activity on business, industry, science, and society when assessing the value of scholarly activity, a portfolio perspective must be taken. In short, ‘quantity of output’ or ‘number of citations’ does not necessarily capture the overall impact of a faculty member’s scholarly activity. The Culverhouse College of Business recognizes that the following issues, among others, must be considered when assessing the scholarly contributions of a faculty member:

• Scholarly contributions may be made through theoretical and methodological developments as well as the application of theory and methods to solve problems in a variety of settings.
• The original purpose of the College’s journal list was to assist with determining a faculty member’s AACSB qualification status. However, the journal list also provides guidance on publication outlets for faculty members and helps departments evaluate research conducted by faculty members. While the journal list is reasonably comprehensive, it is NOT exhaustive: i.e., publications in journals other than those on the Culverhouse College list, including journals in sub-disciplines and disciplines outside of the College’s disciplines, also constitute scholarly contributions and may, in fact, be very appropriate publication outlets given a faculty member’s area of research.
• Interdisciplinary efforts are an increasingly important means for addressing complex problems, and faculty who engage in such research face unique challenges and these efforts may result in alternative, non-traditional outputs or results that are disseminated through nontraditional outlets.
• The impact of a scholarly contribution may increase, diminish, or become more apparent over time.
• Different disciplines present different opportunities:
  • for scholarly contributions (for instance, some disciplines may be more likely to pursue and win large research grants, while others may be more likely to produce patents or software).
  • to influence policy or business practice.
  • to pursue funded research.
• High level academic presentations (e.g., keynote or plenary talks) at major national or international conferences represent scholarly contributions.
• Faculty who engage students in scholarly activities in meaningful ways face unique challenges and make important contributions by mentoring future scholars.
• Pedagogical research may also be a scholarly contribution.

By using a broad perspective for examining and evaluating scholarly engagement, we are encouraging an environment in which Culverhouse faculty can actively affect the communities in which they directly engage.

Regardless of its diversity, however, scholarship:

• Is rigorous.
• Is high-quality.
• Extends the frontiers of knowledge/creative expression.
• Can be documented.
• Is validated by and shared with other professionals.
• Contributes substantively to one’s discipline or the larger academic community and/or has impact on business, industry, and/or society.

Scholars should develop a national (and ultimately, international) reputation for the research in her or his discipline or sub-discipline.

Each year, each Culverhouse faculty member should work with her or his department head to develop scholarly activity objectives for the upcoming year (and beyond, if possible) as part of the annual faculty evaluation process. This conversation should include a discussion of the potential impact of ongoing and proposed scholarly activities. This will allow the faculty member and department head to specify the faculty member’s scholarly activity objectives so they support the objectives of the department, college, and/or university and are consistent with available resources.

When submitting materials for assessment of her or his scholarly activity, the faculty member should provide evidence (internal or external) of how she or he has addressed each objective for scholarly activity. The faculty member should also provide evidence (internal or external) of the impact or potential impact of her or his scholarly activity.

Although most members of the Culverhouse faculty will follow a traditional career development path that focuses primarily or exclusively on publications in top peer-reviewed research journals, the guidelines presented in this statement allow Culverhouse faculty the opportunity to demonstrate impact through a variety of paths (such as research intensive, sponsored research intensive, teaching and pedagogical research, etc.) when appropriate. The key is that the research activity has impact on its intended audience. We acknowledge and respect that there are multiple ways to demonstrate sustainable and impactful research scholarship.

The Culverhouse College aspires to increasingly be recognized for the quality, quantity, and impact of its faculty’s scholarly activity. However, pursuit of this objective should not be done at the expensive of providing a quality education to its students. Although this statement focuses on research impact, assessment of faculty must also give appropriate consideration to the impact the faculty member has had through teaching and service (and activities at the intersection of research, teaching, and/or service). The Culverhouse College of Business expects each faculty member’s overall impact (in some combination of research, teaching, and service that may evolve) to grow as the faculty member progresses through her or his career, and the Culverhouse College of Business will work to support its faculty in these endeavors.