Applying O'Meara, Campbell, and Terosky's (2011) faculty agency framework, this qualitative case study examined full-time, non-tenure-track faculty (FTNTTF) members' perceptions of their agency at an elite public research university. Participants experienced greater agency over time and in the classroom, but felt their agency was constrained by…

Non-tenure track faculty members (NTTF) constitute what has been referred to by scholars as the new faculty majority. The growing numbers of NTTF have led to debates about the role they should play in shared governance. Currently, however, an overall lack of empirical knowledge exists regarding the status of their involvement in institutional…

This article examines motivations for faculty involvement in shared governance. Faculty members at a mid-sized, Midwestern university were surveyed to assess reasons for serving and leading in the shared governance process. Five predominant themes were identified as affecting faculty participation in university governance. The five predominant…

Developments in the academic world--particularly among research universities--have been pushing US institutions of higher education towards structures and practices that defy the very values of equity and quality they profess to uphold. This is evident in the increasing quantification of scholarly productivity as well as in the growing division of…

Policymakers and leaders have been calling for changes in the Academy for nontenure-track faculty. This study focuses on the role of governance in creating that policy change, and the practices facilitating their role in changing the institution through governance. Findings include: governance facilitating day-to-day changes, establishing…

This article presents the annual report on the economic status of the profession. This year's report covers three main issues--all perennial problems, but with new analysis based on the latest data--in addition to summarizing the current results from the annual American Association of University Professors (AAUP) survey of full-time faculty…

The unionization of instructional workers is a central feature of U.S. higher education, with more than a quarter of those teaching college classes covered by collectively bargained contracts. Though dated, the best existing numbers indicate that more than 430,000 faculty members, graduate students, and related personnel are in bargaining units;…

In this paper, the authors call for an approach that, in recognizing the economic realities facing most institutions, attempts to put aside objections that funding is simply not available to support an expansion of the current tenure system. In calling for the changes in faculty working conditions, the authors recognize that change will…

Nontenure-track faculty are a diverse set of professionals who are difficult to characterize and paint with a broad brush. One issue, however, applies across all nontenure-track faculty appointment types: faculty governance. This article discusses university-level faculty governance participation as it relates to nontenure-track appointments,…

Boston University (BU) has had a history of contentious relations between administrators and faculty. John Silber, who ran the university from the early 1970s through the late 1990s, gave faculty little say in university governance, and an "us versus them" atmosphere soon developed. In 2004, however, major changes in the board of…

The work of individual professors and members of the "faculty" requires a high degree of autonomy. This professional independence that educators enjoy individually through academic freedom and collectively through peer review and shared governance arises from a social contract, a tacit agreement with the public about the contribution of…

There is a growing concern among faculty and administrators in higher education institutions that shared governance is being diminished, primarily due to the decline of tenure-track faculty and growth of contingent faculty who have been historically excluded from formal participation in university governance. Although the role of faculty in…

Over the past few decades, the increase in contingent appointments--part- and full-time positions off the tenure track--has been dramatic. As of 2001, the most recent year for which U.S. Department of Education data are available, 44.5 percent of faculty appointments were part time. According to "Assessing the Silent Revolution: How Changing…

Examines the larger implications of the academic labor movement, especially in relation to democratic governance of higher education institutions. Discusses the American Association of University Professors, focusing on the rights of nontenured and part-time faculty and graduate student employees and noting how the Association works to end their…

Increasing use of non-tenure-track, full-time college professors, which some thought a temporary solution to institutional budgeting, has become common policy, according to a study of existing data for 88 four-year institutions. While administrators find flexibility and savings in the practice, faculty accuse institutions of exploiting Ph.D.s and…