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Abstract
Public service work has not been afforded the same level of academic legitimacy as scholarship and teaching. To date, there has been limited evaluative research to discover and analyze influential forces that drive the work and shape the identity of faculty who primarily engage in academic-based public service. The purpose of this research is two-fold (1) to identify perceived organizational & internal governance elements that influence the work and professional identity of public service and outreach faculty and (2) to generate a grounded theory that relates the findings to the formation of self-identity and perceived feelings of legitimacy of public service faculty.Data from the study revealed perceived social and policy patterns that impact the work, evaluation, and advancement of public service faculty at a Land-Grant institution. These perceived influences reinforced the general findings from the review of literature and included perceptions that public service work is not as highly valued as other academic pursuits and that public service faculty are often working at the fringes of higher education and their work and purpose are often not aligned with the dominant academic faculty culture and priorities. The data provided a detailed accounting of perceived influential forces and have been categorized into a proposed Framework of Relational Governance Influences on the Professional Identity of Non-Tenure Track Public Service and Outreach Faculty (Framework). Evaluating the components of the Framework may lead to specific recommendations for enhancing the self-identity and perceived feeling of legitimacy of public service faculty and other faculty groups that feel disenfranchised or isolated from the dominant academic culture.