In four decades of teaching college English, the author has watched many good teaching jobs morph into second-class ones. Worse, she has seen the memory and then the expectation of teaching jobs with decent status, security, and salary depart along with principles and collegiality. To help reverse this downward spiral, she contends that what is…

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. With a duration of eighteen months, this recession was almost double the length of the average post-World War II economic downturn. Although the worst recession since the Great Depression is now technically over, this analysis…

The effects of reliance on part-time faculty in higher education have been much discussed of late. Most observers now agree that the increasing reliance on contingent academic labor has worrisome consequences for both students and faculty. The authors recently attempted to provide needed analysis of what drives the current reliance on part-time…

This article presents the annual report on the economic status of the profession. Although the results of this year's survey of full-time faculty compensation are marginally better than they have been the last two years, 2011-12 represents the continuation of a historic low period for faculty salaries. The overall average salary for full-time…

The applicability of the principle of comparable pay for comparable worth is discussed for college faculty jobs, not only for alleviation of sex discrimination but also for eliminating bias-related discrepancies between departments or specialties. (MSE)

The ambiguity concerning the status and role of the academic librarian and its reflection in the salary disparity between librarians and teaching faculty, and the differences of opinion concerning the solution, are discussed. (MSE)

Argues that, although the high salaries of faculty "superstars" may disadvantage other faculty and staff, particularly in a period of downsizing, the more serious problem is the tradition of large discipline-based differences in faculty salaries which undermine the principles of merit-based compensation. Resentment of "superstar" salaries may have…

In this paper, the author describes what might happen if a college got rid of its board of trustees and the faculty became voting partners in running the "corporation." What if there was no board of trustees composed mainly of outsiders? What if the president was chosen by and responsible to the faculty? What, in short, if the faculty owned the…

Disciplinary and rank salary differences in higher education are immense and growing, and neither a marketplace nor a uniform approach explains or guides the setting of academic salaries. Salary differences must be prevented from generating feelings of second-class citizenship to maintain a common purpose among faculty. (MSE)

The difficulty for an institution of finding a balance between traditional faculty compensation practices and free labor market practices that raise the salaries of faculty in high-demand disciplines in government, industry, and education is discussed. (MSE)

The University of California's "step" system for appointment and advancement of faculty and the salary scale attached to it are outlined, and some criteria and procedures used in making academic personnel decisions are reviewed. (MSE)

The American Association of University Professors' annual survey of college and university faculty salaries, by academic rank, institution type and size, gender, and geographic region and in relation to the consumer price index, is reported. Extensive data tables track changes and percentile distributions; one table presents average salaries for…

Tables and narrative analysis are presented for salary trends for all ranks of college faculty in 2,532 public and private institutions. Slight real increases in salary are found, with public institutions behind private colleges. In the past decade, faculty salaries have fallen behind those in the private sector. (MSE)

Although a casual analysis might suggest that a faculty member cannot afford a two-term sabbatical leave, factors affecting income loss from sabbaticals have changed. These include an increase in the number of two-income households, general increases in salary levels, and substantial revisions in federal tax law. Income loss from sabbaticals,…

Results of the annual national survey of college and university faculty compensation are reported, with some narrative analysis. Data on national averages and individual institutions, trend analyses, rank, institution type, gender, tenure, and total compensation are included. (MSE)