The following appeared in a letter from the faculty committee to the president of Seatown University:A study conducted at nearby Oceania University showed that faculty retention is higher when professors are offered free tuition at the university for thei

The letter makes an assumption that retention equals quality. Even though Oceania University's faculty retention increased, there are lack of evidences regarding the quality and morale of the retained professors.

First, the study needs to show that the quality of teaching has increased among professors with college-aged children. The study could cite that these professors are more actively engaged than professors without children as evidence for the increasing quality. If this was true, then it would strengthen the claim and free tuition policy could be beneficial for Seatown. However, if Seatown already offers the highest quality of education, then instituting this policy will have nugatory effects.

Also, increasing retention does not necessarily translated to enhancing morale among the faculty because the free tuition only benefits the faculty with children. It does not benefit young faculty who have not yet established a family. If Seatown has a higher percentage of faculty without children, then the policy would have little effect on the general morale. On the other hand, if the majority of Seatown's faculty has college-aged children, then adopting this policy would be beneficial.

Moreover, the study needs to analyze the retention rate across time. If the retention rate decreases sharply after the college children graduate, then adopting this policy would only have short-term benefits. However, if the retention rate is higher consistently over time at Oceania, then this evidence would support the argument.

Lastly, the committee claims that the policy would help lure new professors. But, they need to provide evidence that the policy would lure high quality professors rather than low quality professors. A increase in number of application of unqualified professors would only cause administrative headache for Seatown.

Consequently, the President needs more evidence from the study that equates retention to quality before he or she decides to institute this policy.