NEW SEMO PROVOST ON BOARD; FACULTY MEMBERS MUST EXPAND THEIR KNOWLEDGE, HE SAYS

In today's knowledge explosion, classroom teaching is not enough, says Charles Kupchella, the new provost at Southeast Missouri State University.

Those who teach in the nation's colleges and universities must also engage in scholarly activity to keep up to date in their fields, Kupchella said Tuesday.

Kupchella was hired in December to replace Leslie Cochran, who became president of Youngstown State University in Ohio.

Kupchella assumed his job on a full-time basis Monday after completing the academic year as dean of the Ogden College of Science, Technology and Health at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

Years ago, a college professor could be defined as someone who knew all there was to know about a particular discipline, Kupchella said. "You could wrap your arms around it."

"That's no longer possible," he said.

Faculty members, he said, should be "proven practitioners" in their fields. "We don't owe our students any less."

The value of scholarly activity was raised this spring by several Southeast faculty members who argued that the institution places too much importance on publishing of scholarly research and not enough on classroom teaching in deciding whether to grant tenure.

Richard Hansen, an associate professor of economics at Southeast, was denied tenure this spring on the grounds that he had not done enough research and scholarly activity since being hired six years ago. As a result, his employment with the university will end at the conclusion of the 1993-94 academic year.

Although he was not involved in the decision to deny Hansen tenure, Kupchella defended the university's policy of requiring faculty members to engage in scholarly activity.

He maintained that most faculty members at Southeast understand the need for scholarly activity. "They understand that scholarship is part and parcel of being a university faculty member," Kupchella said.

Hansen said he was denied tenure because the university has a "publish or perish" philosophy regarding scholarly research.

But Kupchella said the "publish or perish" issue is "sort of a red herring."

"They (faculty members) don't have to do a lot (of scholarly research). They don't have to do it at the expense of teaching, but they have to do some," he said.

Having one's research paper published in a scholarly journal is "the coin of the realm in academe," said Kupchella.

He conceded that some large universities have gone overboard in emphasizing research over teaching. But he maintained it's unfair to extend that criticism to universities such as Southeast, which requires far less in terms of faculty research.

Scholarship, he said, is a credit to both the faculty member and the university.

In addition, Kupchella said that scholarly activity is important in trying to judge whether a faculty member will be a good teacher, not just today, but in the future.

Terry Sutton, Faculty Senate chairman, has said he would like to see that body address the tenure issue in the coming academic year.

Kupchella said he would welcome a review of the tenure policy.

Some faculty members, such as Sutton, have been critical of the university's decision to grant Kupchella tenure in the biology department in conjunction with his employment as provost.

But Kupchella said he would not have considered the provost job here had he not been granted tenure.

He said it's not just a matter of job security, but it makes a statement that the administrator comes from a solid teaching background.

Kupchella said he had tenure at Western Kentucky where, as dean, he taught a course.

He said he would like to teach a course at Southeast, while serving as provost.

Kupchella may be an administrator, but his heart is still in teaching.

"I certainly wouldn't consider it a personal disaster to be condemned to a life of teaching and scholarship," he said.