This paper examines the strategic use of temporary employment contracts in dealing with supply uncertainty in the form of employee ability that is slow to reveal itself, for example in academia where there exist significant time lags in demonstration of research ability. A temporary contract is modeled as a real option, specifically as a…

The hiring of faculty is at the heart of developing and maintaining programs, as well as the success and achievement of students, in all educational systems, and the California Community College System is no exception. While hiring practices may vary in terms of specifics in the 72 community college districts in California, basic principles and…

In recent decades, the employment model in higher education has markedly changed. Tenure-track faculty now represent just about 30 percent of the instructional faculty across all non-profit institutions. Meanwhile, most faculty members who provide instruction at colleges and universities today are non-tenure-track faculty, the majority of them…

The American community college has posed, for a period of time, some distinctively unique concerns pertaining to legal issues. However, the most pressing legal issues facing community colleges now are those regarding personnel. The diversity of programs community colleges offer require that personnel (specifically faculty) come to the institution…

Boston University (Massachusetts) has devised an alternative form of faculty-tenure appointment offering a six-year probationary period, traditional performance and peer-review standards, salary premium from the first day of employment, ten-year renewable contract with one-year notice, same privileges and voting status as traditionally tenured…

Professors and the Florida State Board of Regents have agreed to experiment with an alternative to tenure at Florida Gulf Coast University, scheduled to open in 1997. Administrators will have the option of whether to offer new professors tenure or multi-year contracts. The arrangement is a compromise between elimination of tenure and the contract…

Public and nonpublic higher education institutions differ in the manner in which an allegedly aggrieved party can seek redress. Discusses relevant cases concerning constitutional standards, contractual problems, and damage to reputation. (124 references) (MLF)

Tenured faculty are normally terminated only for just cause. In "Milbouer v. Keppler," however, an Idaho district court upheld faculty members' discharge when Boise State University declared a financial exigency. Examination shows that this definition of financial exigency derived from budget reductions that affected small program…

The arbitration provisions of collective bargaining agreements at unionized colleges and universities were analyzed for a sample of about 89,000 unionized faculty. The following 11 elements were analyzed with respect to frequency in collective agreements and assorted other contractual conditions: (1) time limits for submission of grievances; (2)…

This paper discusses faculty hiring procedures by highlighting features of previous models adopted by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, and by presenting specific recommendations. By 2010, more than 30,000 full-time and part-time faculty will be replaced, and 15,000 additional new hires will be needed to meet the demands of an…

While tenure has its disadvantages, far more would be lost than gained by reducing or abandoning the tenure system. Strategies are available to both safeguard against tenure abuse and increase institutional flexibility by reducing the proportion of tenured appointments, without endangering the traditional role of the institution. (Author/MSE)

In 1969 Hampshire College in Massachusetts explore the "contract for service," by which faculty appointments are made for three-to-seven-year terms. Experience to date has shown low turnover, with fewer opportunities but better retention for young faculty. The relationship of the contract system to academic freedom is not yet tested.…

An alternative employment status for some types of part-time faculty, that of independent contractor, is described. The contractor status may be more congruent with what both parties actually believe their relationship to be. (MLW)

A revamping of the operation of the current academic labor market by drawing upon the system found in professional sports is suggested. To stimulate thought, it is proposed that rules governing free agency, professor reservation, first refusal, trading, and salary arbitration be applied to higher education to replace current, outdated procedures.…

Flexible tenure contracts are proposed as an alternative to the current college faculty tenure system. Such a contract would make more explicit, and potentially more varied, the contributions expected of the candidate, but avoid the tenure-track/non-tenure-track distinction. It could also help resolve conflicts over the relative weights to be…