Advice is provided to teachers and scholars entering the academic profession at a college or university. The report reviews the usual standards and practices governing faculty employment in higher education and offers candid suggestions about how untenured faculty members might protect their rights. This information is designed to inform the…

Reflecting the national trend toward less costly undergraduate education, ranked college faculty at the University of South Florida (USF) have generated steadily decreasing portions of total university instructional full-time equivalence (FTE), going from 72% in 1983 to 57% in 1994, while less costly graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and…

Interviews with 12 college faculty examined the increased use of clinical nontenure track faculty in teacher education programs. The paper presents a history of professional development school (PDS) work and staffing patterns at the University of Utah, describes the study, notes emerging themes, and considers implications for future PDS…

In early 1997, over 100 University of California, Hayward faculty members signed a statement of concern about the heavy use of part-time faculty as lecturers. Professors fear that increased use of lecturers threatens tenure, hurts quality of education, and reduces departmental continuity. Part-time faculty are generally treated as a different…

At a time when some are critical of higher education's increasing reliance on part-time and adjunct faculty, many of those faculty do not seek tenure or full-time teaching positions. While they would like better pay and benefits, they prefer part-time work so they can pursue other jobs or interests and enjoy the teaching they do. (MSE)

Drawing from 18 years of experience as an adjunct professor at a community college and 3 years as a non-tenured full-time faculty member, the President of the Faculty Senate of Valencia Community College (VCC) offers a number of personal observations on the ways in which adjunct faculty and faculty senates can address the problems encountered by…

The National Education Association (NEA) regards the misuse and abuse of part-time, temporary, and nontenure track faculty appointments as one of the most serious problems confronting American higher education. This report discusses the following topics and gives NEA's recommendations to colleges and universities: (1) categories of part-time,…

This study examines the association between three outcomes of the freshman and sophomore years (retention, academic achievement and student rating of instruction) and the amount of exposure to three types of instructors (regular full-time faculty, adjunct faculty and graduate teaching assistants). The growing reliance in higher education on…

Data from studies of nonstandard work arrangements for managers, professionals, and college faculty suggest that the experiences of academics in such jobs are similar to those of other professionals as to job quality and worker preferences. Workers in nonstandard work are generally paid less, are less likely to receive health insurance or pension…

Non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty represent a significant and growing element of the American academic profession. In the fall of 1992 there were 110,227 full-time faculty working in non-tenure eligible positions. Data from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-93) illustrate where and in what program areas NTT faculty work, and…

Tables and text summarize differences and trends in gender differences among full-time non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty. Five tables present data on: (1) change in faculty distribution by gender and tenure status, fall 1975-fall 1993; (2) gender distribution of full-time NTT faculty across types of institutions, fall 1992; (3) percent distribution…

This report examines the changes, and the potential consequences of those changes, in the employment patterns of American academics, focusing specifically on the use of short-term and temporary instructors by postsecondary institutions. Following a brief introduction, the report describes shifts in hiring patterns of postsecondary institutions,…

Based on an extensive survey of the numbers, salaries, and benefits of part-time and non-tenure-track faculty in ten academic disciplines, a November 2000 report from the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) clarified how colleges and universities depend on contingent labor and how inadequately many of these faculty are supported. A group of…

Cost-saving considerations, the threat of declining enrollments, and efforts by community colleges to be responsive to their communities have created a temporary staff maintained on a relatively permanent and continuing basis. Between 1975 and 1983, roughly two new part-time positions were created for every new full-time position. Rather than…

In conjunction with efforts to make more widely known the trend towards decomposition of the tenure system in American colleges and universities, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has examined conditions of full-time nontenure track faculty, part-time/adjunct faculty, graduate employees and new categories of academic professional staff…