TITLE
External Consulting: Advancing Scholarship Beyond the Traditional Academic Structure
ABSTRACT
Being a successful professor is more than a full-time career, yet there is more than one approach in identifying the right path for your academic career. The purpose of this Sydney Talk is to examine and discuss the research role of academics in relation to advancing scholarship beyond the traditional academic structure. Research consulting can enrich the academic experience in numerous capacities, including: (1) providing a rich and deep source of research material; (2) financial support for research endeavors; (3) opportunity for research to make a difference in a field of practice and society; and (4) material for classroom instruction and learning at all levels of university. Also addressed are the unique challenges associated with this approach, including: (1) tenure and promotion, (2) the role of the consultant beyond the constraints of academic values and behaviors, and (3) managing two very different worldviews on the philosophy of science and research.
BIOGRAPHY
Michael J. Palenchar (PhD, University of Florida), associate professor at the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Tennessee and former associate dean, has more than three decades of professional and academic public relations experience. Research interests include risk communication, issues management, and crisis communication, with specific contextual and industry focus related to chemical and other manufacturing, national security, and community right-to-know issues. His professional experience includes working in corporate, nonprofit and agency environments, and he is also a risk communication and issues management research consultant for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local government and nongovernmental agencies.
READINGS
Heath, R. L., & Palenchar,M. J. (2000). Marketplace commodification of risk communication: Consequences for risk bearers and implications for public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 12(2), 131–161.
Palenchar, M. J., (in press). Chapter TBD: Communicating safety and risk: Advancement of a field in constant uncertainty. In T. Sellnow (Ed.), Risk Communication text—complete cite to follow, MLK.
Palenchar, M. J., Heath,R. L., Levenshus, A., & Lemon, L. (2017). Marketplace commodification of risk communication: Consequences for risk bearers and implications for public relations. Public Relations Review 43(4), 709–717.
