Faculty members in American higher education institutions are the stewards of their institutions (Astin & Astin, 2000). They practice this stewardship both by performing well as individuals and as groups. Faculty members hold one another accountable, specifically through decisions on hiring, promoting, and granting tenure to colleagues. Their three-fold responsibility of teaching, scholarship, and citizenship requires both independence and interdependence. Furthermore, faculty members desire to work in supportive, collegial environments. They want to work with collegial people.What is less clear is how faculty members define collegial behavior and how that behavior affects individual and collective work. This dissertation study explored how faculty members in various disciplines define collegiality. Data were collected to address this goal through interview questions asking them to describe collegial and un-collegial peers and their behaviors. I then explored how faculty members perceived the effects of those behaviors on individual and departmental work. The results of this study help establish and strengthen definitions of faculty collegiality, and suggest that collegiality affects both individual and departmental work in a variety of ways, including productivity and efficiency.This study began with a conceptual framework of collegial attributes and behaviors that guided interview questions. Twenty-three faculty members representing many disciplines from a single research institution (RU/VH) participated in interviews. Participants described personal perceptions of collegiality and un-collegiality. They also explained how collegial and un-collegial behaviors affected their work and the work of their department. The interview data helped refine the initial framework and provided examples and stories of best practices in cultivating collegial behavior and culture. Collegiality was described by all participants as a variety of behaviors demonstrating care for others and their success. Collegial faculty members expand others’ perspectives and opportunities, work in collaborative ways, are unifying in their work, and are future-oriented. The effects of collegiality identified by participants include increased productivity and efficiency for individuals and departments, an increased sense of community, and a positive culture. Un-collegiality was described as a variety of behaviors that could be characterized as self-centered. Un-collegial behaviors include selfishness, lack awareness of others, negative behaviors, use perceived academic superiority or institutional hierarchy to claim power, and in some circumstances, discriminate. The effects of un-collegiality identified by participants included decreased efficiency, isolation of self and others, missed opportunities, and talent quarantine, which I defined as restricting the institution’s ability to take full advantage of an individual’s skills and knowledge.The results of this study will provide helpful information to faculty members, department chairs, and other higher education leaders who seek to develop and encourage collegiality; the results will also be useful to researchers and scholars who study academic work.
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