Paid Media Consulting by Journalism Educators : Its Effects on Teaching, Research and Tenure and Promotion / David C. Coulson.

To explore journalism and mass communication administrators' attitudes toward the usefulness of paid consulting by faculty members, a study asked three research questions: (1) Does paid media consulting strengthen and enhance teaching? (2) Are educators who act as paid media consultants more productive researchers than colleagues who do not consult? and (3) How is paid media consulting weighed in tenure and promotion decisions? A 12-page questionnaire (with sections surveying attitudes; hours spent consulting, office hours and teaching loads; characteristics of institutions and programs surveyed; and demographic and career-related information) was completed by 169 (out of 366) administrators of journalism and mass communications programs in the United States. The data were controlled for correlations among these variables. Results indicated, among other things, that a majority of administrators (85%) agreed that paid media consulting strengthens and enhances teaching; that administrators tended to agree (43%) that faculty who consult are more productive researchers than non-consultants (though 40% were neutral); and that paid media consulting positively affected tenure and promotion decisions in about half the programs (52%). (Seventeen notes and three tables of data are attached.) (SR)

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