Approaches to obtaining valid information for evaluating faculty and the issue of alcoholism and job performance are addressed. Among the complications to this undertaking is the existence of an invalid self-perception on the part of faculty that they are not employees of the institution, and a tolerance among faculty for deviance or eccentricity. It is suggested that this tolerance encourages detrimental drinking behavior. The difficulty of specifying the job responsibilities of faculty members and what constitutes an adequate job performance has concerned faculty evaluators. It is suggested that lists of objective, verifiable, and mutually established criteria for job effectiveness be developed. Among the changes that may reduce job stress and possibly prevent chemical dependency and other forms of self-destructive defensive behavior are the following: providing precise and well advertised job descriptions; accepting mid-career changes and allowing for individual adjustment to this transition; and realizing that early tenure appointments may be accompanied by an early peaking of a career. Efforts to reduce job stress and strengthen collegiality rest upon an open acknowledgment of departmental and individual strengths and expectations (and, by implication, weaknesses). When problems remain, self-referral must be encouraged through health education. (SW)