| by "approved", do you mean tenured? barnard profs are tenured by columbia, however, the process of tenure (the judging, peer review, etc) is a universal endeavor (meaning, a professor up for tenure is reviewed by colleagues and scholars outside of the BC/CU community). Once it is officially time for tenure review, professors from both sides of the street, within the same department, "vote" for that professor (in other words, for a barnard professor, columbia professors in their dept. vote for them, and vice versa).
A professor at any college, whether it be a large university, or a small liberal arts institution like barnard, must produce research to "earn their keep." Research is a big part of the professor's job (many, if not all professors have student research assistants, and many, if not all, produce some form of scholarship while simultaneously teaching). the review of a professor's CV is a huge part of the hiring process as well. also, once you're in college and you're life revolves around academia, you will see that professors with extensive, impressive research are more highly favored. You would rather have a tenured "associate" than a junior "lecturer" (in most cases).
you shouldn't think of it as "research across the street". Their research is their personal endeavor (i can't attest for every field...i'm thinking primarily in the anthropology dept. which is my major). and if professors are really into their research, it shouldn't be seen as negative; a lot of professors like to get their students involved in their research (summer trips, projects, etc).
Teaching will always be more important to them; Barnard does not fund their research, it pays their salary. |