“Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other.” Proverbs 27:17 CEV
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35 NIV
T&P guidelines suggest the following thoughts concerning Collegiality:
“A consideration of collegiality is particularly appropriate at a Christian university and is given special attention when tenure is under consideration. Collegiality involves relationships within departments/schools, within colleges, and within the university. These interactions should support the mission and goals at each level of the institution.”
Although not specifically identified as required for promotion at the full professor level, I believe a focus on collegiality is a necessary aspect of personal development in giving back to others. To work with students and colleagues in teaching and scholarship ensures synergistic outcomes in both areas. I continue to see the greatest spiritual blessing when we commit to making a difference in someone else’s life.
Dr. Month Lynn clarified the distinction between being an associate professor and a full professor. In his wisdom, he stated that the difference between the years prior to becoming an associate professor and those prior to full professorship is that an associate professor looks to their own development. By contrast, growth towards full professorship looks to support the advancement of others.
I took this to heart beginning in 2012 after being promoted to associate professor. Although I had many opportunities for scholarly paper and journal submissions as administrative lead for the Management, Spirituality and Religion interest group, I chose to focus on supporting the scholarly needs of this division rather than promote my own scholarship. This began with chairing different committees in the Academy of Management. One requirement as admin is that you cannot submit to conferences within your division as the program chair. The intent is to promote the good of the division and not communicate bias in the selection process. To serve this end, I purposely took action to end selection bias within this interest group, which did not go well with those who had become accustomed to exploiting MSR as their personal publication channel. I also committed to opening up publication opportunities to PhD students and new members with no prior affiliation with MSR. Although I was ethically motivated to do so, I did not realize how challenging this had become until Dr. David Miller at the Princeton Faith at Work Initiative brought it to my attention at a Christian Scholars Conference in Nashville. I met with two of his PhD students to better understand the problem and addressed it by adding associate editors to the review process for conference submissions and identifying publication opportunities outside the mainstream journals. David expressed his appreciate for this support when we met at the International MSR conference in 2017. Since that time, I continue as an editor and associate editor for both OCIS and MSR as part of the Academy of Management, and have received associate editor awards for the past 3 years.
Although Collegiality differs in many settings, it invariably leads to personal growth in others, involving various dimensions of personal sacrifice for the greater good. The end goal is to promote intentionality in working with others, to create more opportunities for researchers and also create the best learning environment for all students.
My specific contributions can be found in the expanded links under the Collegiality header menu.