One may ask, "What is tenure today with its fuzzy parameters?" Is it a property right that a faculty member may earn and "hold" to retain employment? To understand the issue, educators must first understand what they are tenured to. Since the tenure process emanates from a department, are they tenured to a department or to a…

The author finds that as faculty members, professors are susceptible to an excess of university committee work. He explains that new hires know they need to busy themselves with scholarship, teaching, and service in order to build a strong case for tenure. Eager to make a good impression, they volunteer for committees, task forces, and other…

Of all full-time faculty members in the United States, approximately 75% are White males, and the gap in the percentage of tenured men compared with the percentage of tenured women has not changed in 30 years (Trower & Chait, 2002). A number of studies have been conducted over the past 5 decades examining the factors influencing the recruitment…

The purpose of this literature review was to inform researchers of those predictive factors of job satisfaction previously identified for part-time faculty in higher education. They used the information gathered to help develop a survey instrument that was administered to 700 part-time faculty at their own institution. The results of the study,…

This article reports the findings of a 1999 survey conducted by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW), a group of higher education and disciplinary associations concerned about the dramatic rise in contingent faculty, to examine the staffing practices across eleven humanities and social science disciplines. The comprehensive report showed…

Explores what it takes to remain a college president for decades, discussing the examples of several presidents who have countered the recent trend of short presidencies. (EV)

Among the findings of this survey of faculty members and administrators at a large eastern university are that tenure status is a key indicator of tenure attitude and that neither the tenured nor the nontenured group believed job security to be as crucial to tenure as opponents of tenure tend to assert. (IRT)

Explores some historical reasons why, academic freedom and tenure notwithstanding, retaliation against Writing Program Administrators (WPA) remains rather invisible as well as rather commonplace. Suggests that there is a good deal of historical connection between many WPAs' and writing teachers' present job circumstances and the circumstances that…

These days, most newly hired faculty are appointed on a part-or full-time nontenure- track basis. The AAUP has reported that between 1975 and 2003, full-time tenure-track positions increased by only about 16 percent, while full-time non-tenure-track positions grew by 178 percent, and part-time appointment rose by 189 percent. Yet tenure…

Presents a study on the psychodynamics of work in order to analyze students' relationship to their work organization in an economic context characterized by competition, job insecurity, and anxiety about the future. Collective defense mechanisms were identified, including silence, individualism, isolation, and endurance. (Contains 27 references.)…

The higher education sector in the UK continues to experience significant change. This includes restructuring, use of short-term contracts, external scrutiny and accountability, and major reductions in funding. In line with this, reports of stress at work in higher education institutions have also increased. The study reported here was carried out…

This paper compares the findings of two studies, conducted in 1998 and 2004, of academic staff in British universities. It examines the stability over time of working hours, specific work stressors and levels of psychological distress. Comparisons are also made between the levels of psychological distress currently reported by academic staff and…

The faculty of Curry College in 1974 voted unanimously to replace tenure with a type of term contract. Faculty perceptions of the good and bad aspects of the term contract system are presented. Academic freedom, job security, motivation, promotion criteria, and financial benefits are discussed. (MLW)

In universities, electronically delivered degree and certificate programs must meet three criteria: quality assurance, faculty security, and financial support that facilitates institutional competitiveness. The demand for higher education will shift substantially toward the global marketplace. (SK)

The president of Bloomfield College, New Jersey, reviews (1) general problems posed by the tenure system as conventionally interpreted at about 85 percent of our colleges and universities; (2) several alternatives to conventional tenure; and (3) some special problems facing small, private liberal arts colleges in financial exigency. (JT)