The purpose of a study conducted by the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges (CCCs) was to examine current policies and practices regarding the use of part-time faculty in the CCCs, faculty characteristics, implications for instructional quality, and policy options. The study involved a review of existing literature; data analyses; a survey of California community colleges regarding current practices with respect to part-time faculty; a comparison of survey results with those from a 1981 study; and a survey of community colleges in other states. Study findings included the following: (1) part-time faculty were often hired for their specific knowledge, to provide staffing flexibility, to teach odd-hours and off-campus, and because they are paid less than full-time faculty; (2) 39 of 106 colleges provided part-time faculty with limited reemployment rights; (3) most of the colleges' noncredit instruction was provided by part-time faculty, along with one-third of the class hours of credit instruction; (4) part-time faculty were younger and more often female than were full-time faculty; (5) two of every five full-time faculty members and nearly all part-time faculty responding to the 1981 survey had jobs outside the college; (6) all states responding to the Chancellor's survey indicated that their local colleges required some sort of out-of-class activity of their part-time faculty; and (7) evidence regarding differences in the quality of instruction provided by full- and part-time faculty was inconclusive. The study report includes a section on policy considerations which begins by reviewing prior (1978) policy recommendations and goes on to discuss policy options with reference to part-time faculty status, use, workload, support, evaluation, and compensation. The survey instruments, with summaries of findings, are appended. (LAL)