For those who still see tenure primarily as a form of job security, the larger economic context should be plain. No one, not even in the traditional professions, can any longer expect a fixed pattern of employment in the course of his or her lifetime. In this article, the author discusses how this generation is witnessing the merging of the…

Public suspicion of professionals, including college faculty, as specialists who are, by their nature, antimajoritarian, is discussed and criticized. It is argued that true professionals are essentially disinterested individuals, in a society and an economy that are driven by self-interest, and that their reward for this unselfishness is…

Faculty development programs reflect an underlying distinction between a faculty member's professional roles as teacher and scholar, and have limited impact. If rethought, they could empower college faculties and vitalize their institutions by addressing the mixed nature, multiple features, and necessary complexity of the college teacher's role.…

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education's Professor of the Year for 1982, a Colgate University astronomer with an interest in archaeology, explains his excitement in and commitment to teaching college students. (MSE)

Competition for teaching positions in the liberal arts is greater than ever. Every year good applicants fail, not because they lack the credentials, but because they don't take advantage of modern promotional advertising. Some humorous "award-winning" campaigns are presented. (MLW)

The success of faculty members in balancing their academic careers with family responsibilities is a matter of more than individual happiness: it is also a matter of addressing structural inequities and attracting the most qualified candidates to the academic profession. To make it possible for faculty members to balance work and family,…

The implications for the careers of junior faculty members of the trend toward creating tenure-track appointments that are tenure-track in name only, without any real security, are examined. (MSE)

Discusses "National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University," which ruled that college faculty were managers and thereby excluded from collective bargaining, focusing on why the Supreme Court classified professors as managers, whether the Court did something unusual in this case, or whether faculty is simply the unlucky vanguard of a…

College teaching's goals are discussed in the context of four categories of higher education objectives: (1) development of a highly educated citizenry; (2) expansion of knowledge for practical ends; (3) fostering of the arts, sciences, and humanities; and (4) integration of education with moral and ethical development. (MSE)

A junior faculty member reflects on the dilemma of that professional position, noting that its anxieties fall into two categories: "Is this all there is?" and "What if we lose it?" She examines problems with, and prohibitions against, speaking one's mind in that position, sees solutions as being institutional or individual, and examines how…

The complete report of Committee Z of the American Association of University Professors on the economic status of college faculty is presented. The average salary level of college and university professors rose by 6.6 percent. (MLW)

The AAUP annual report includes a summary of the annual survey and its results, tables of salaries and college faculty salary trend information by rank and institution type, explanations of the statistical data, data for individual institutions given alphabetically by state, data for preclinical medical school departments, and notes. (MSE)

A participant in a career transition workshop for 10 former college faculty members gives an account of the sometimes difficult process of changing perspectives, attitudes, and problem-solving techniques from academe to the world of business and of learning practical job search methods. (MSE)

An article based on a 3-year study of the American professoriate is presented. The academic labor market, it is concluded, may be heading into unprecedented competition for the best talent. Improvement of the work environment may be as important as growth in compensation. (MLW)

Data from the American Association of University Professors' annual survey of college faculty salaries and fringe benefits are reported and related to the Consumer Price Index, real dollar trends, academic rank, discipline, institution type and affiliation, region, and tenure status. (MSE)