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56
Faculty Matters Summer 2012
scholarshipspotlight
a message from Executive Dean Jeremy Moreland
Adversity and
scholarship:
Choosing to benefit
from criticism
By Julie Wilson
In this edition of Faculty Matters, Executive Dean
Jeremy Moreland explores how peer review and
persistence are essential to producing quality
scholarship.
FM It seems that scholarship and rejection go hand
in hand. After all, not every paper can be accepted
by every journal nor to every conference. Is this
considered failure on the part of the individual
producing the scholarship?
JM Many people experienced at scholarship would
argue that if you are receiving good, critical feedback
on your work, then ultimately that effort has not been
a failure, even if it isn’t accepted by a publication.
Rejection and feedback are part of the process of
strengthening the quality of one’s research and
writing. In fact, most people who are published in a
peer-reviewed journal likely weren’t successful on
their first try.
FM Does that same logic apply if a faculty member
has submitted for an award through University
of Phoenix’s Office of Scholarship Support grants
program and isn’t successful?
JM Yes, I would argue that they were still successful.
The fact that the faculty member was engaged,
formulated ideas, put those ideas down on paper, and
shared them for peer review is a success. Maybe he
or she didn’t receive an award on the first attempt,
but many do not.
FM It sounds like it’s a matter of perspective.
JM A lot depends upon how effectively an individual
can integrate feedback into their efforts. Our Vice
Provost Dawn Iwamoto famously tells her doctoral
students that feedback is a gift. Successful scholars
ultimately are not thwarted by rejection. They don’t
perceive it as failure but rather as an opportunity to
extend their thinking via the feedback of others.
FM From our students’ perspective, why is faculty
scholarship important?
JM I’d assume a lot of students would say we would
be failing at our scholarship efforts if we couldn’t
use the results to help them in the classroom.
When faculty engage in scholarship that furthers
either their discipline or their teaching practice,
they create the occasion for an amazing teaching
and learning experience, as well. Our students are
consistently excited about their ability to apply
what they are learning in the classroom to their
workplace. The same should be true of our faculty
applying their scholarship in the classroom.