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Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Contact: Peter Bailley
news@knox.edu
309-341-7715
GALESBURG -- "I was wanting to go to a smaller school," where teaching is as important as research, says Stuart Allison, associate professor of biology at Knox College, in an article in this week's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Allison was interviewed for a story about faculty who, after getting their degrees at large research universities, decided to work at small liberal arts colleges.
[Photo: Stuart Allison leads a "prairie burn" at the Green Oaks Field Station. Download for publication.]
Working at a large university puts pressure on faculty to bring in research grants — something that can be "counterproductive" for an educator, Allison told the Chronicle for an October 22nd article, "Small Scale Science."
From "Small-Scale Science":
At small, liberal-arts colleges like Knox, the mandate is teach or perish. Mr. Allison and his colleagues still have to bring in grants and publish papers, of course. "You have to be productive or you won't be successful," he says. But when it's time for advancement, teaching evaluations carry as much weight as a fat CV. "If teaching doesn't turn you on, this probably isn't the place for you," he says.
— http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/10/2002102201c.htm
"Professors at big schools have almost no contact with undergrads," said another professor, Paul Yancey of Whitman College, also interviewed for the story in the Chronicle's "Catalyst" section, which carries career advice for scientists.
"Some small colleges spend more money on lawn maintenance than on research, but Knox and Whitman make science a priority," wrote Chris Woolston, author of the article. "Knox boasts two electron microscopes and a 760-acre field station... When Mr. Allison first arrived at Knox, he received a generous start-up package to purchase new equipment and an impressive 800 square feet of lab space."
Allison received his undergraduate degree at the University of Puget Sound, his master's degree at the University of Rhode Island and his doctorate at the University of California- Berkeley. His specialties include plant population studies, community ecology and conservation biology. A member of the Knox faculty since 1997, he is also director of Knox's Green Oaks Biological Field Station.
Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 40 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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