In a personal narrative reflecting on 27 years of teaching, an adjunct faculty member realizes that she knows quite a bit firsthand about the adjunct. Judith Gappa and David Leslie, in their 1993 book, "The Invisible Faculty," state that budgets are balanced and classes assigned on the assumption that 20 to 50% of all undergraduate…

Discusses the growing community college reliance on adjunct professors to absorb greater numbers of students in the face of declining budgets. Describes policies for assigning courses, benefits for students from adjuncts' expertise and special skills, concerns held by adjuncts and other faculty, and opportunities for administrators to show support…

Explores the research regarding the profile and perspectives of part-time two-year college faculty in English. Considers weekly time management, research and professional activities, and views regarding the profession of teaching. Argues that all faculty should increase their activism in support of part-time faculty and their needs. (HB)

A study examined factors motivating and hindering college faculty (n=248) in pursuit of grants, focusing on differences between tenured and non-tenured faculty. Results suggest non-tenured faculty perceive motivational factors and barriers differently than tenured faculty. Concluding that adequate training in grant writing is essential, it is…

Increasing use of non-tenure-track, full-time college professors, which some thought a temporary solution to institutional budgeting, has become common policy, according to a study of existing data for 88 four-year institutions. While administrators find flexibility and savings in the practice, faculty accuse institutions of exploiting Ph.D.s and…

Looks at how contracts impact on college faculty incentives to produce at high levels of quality and quantity. Focus is on the organizational and structural conditions that accompany tenure systems in academic organizations, on the associated motivational climate that is produced by either tenure or contract systems, and on the effect of…

At the post-secondary level, 38% of teaching is done by adjunct faculty. How did the profession become so divided? The answer goes beyond the academic profession because full-time positions are getting splintered into part-time ones all over the United States, but nevertheless academics make themselves particularly vulnerable because of their…

The trend toward hiring of part-time faculty, most evident at two-year colleges, angers many faculty groups. Critics contend the practice exploits part-time teachers to help colleges balance their budgets, erodes educational quality, and threatens tenure. These faculty are also most likely to be laid off during retrenchment. (MSE)

A new director of composition at Arkansas State University explains how she has had to mentor herself, write and revise herself, read herself into her new bewildering environment, and in short, make her job as easy as possible. Reading the new environment and understanding how faculty members fit into it may be one of the hardest aspects of a new…

Discusses outplacement counseling, pointing out that concerned, careful, and thoughtful dismissal of teachers can improve faculty morale, save litigation expense, and reduce stress levels for the people involved. (EL)

A study used available data to develop a profile of non-tenure-track college faculty (n=132) and compare it with a similarly derived profile of untenured but tenure-track faculty (n=587). The research explored the relationship between employment status and selected demographic, career orientation, career circumstance, and work environment…

Although it does not offer tenure or tenure-track appointments, the newly established Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has not had difficulty attracting qualified faculty. The creation of the institution, recruitment of faculty, characteristics of new faculty hires, characteristics of the interview pool for new positions, faculty reasons for…

A study used the "met-expectations" framework to examine effects of postgraduate work experience on tenure acquisition. Pretenure faculty with academic postdoctoral experience had better time management skills, were clearer about work priorities, experienced less work stress than inexperienced faculty. Early work stress was associated with lower…

Views concerning the participation of nontenure-track faculty in campus governance were surveyed at Towson State University (Maryland). In spring 1985, a questionnaire was sent to all 425 full-time faculty members at the university, and 298 responses were obtained. Only 3% of nontenure-track faculty responded to the questionnaire, compared to 70%…

The authors compare the ideal versus actual academic reward structures at a representative sample of nondoctoral four-year institutions and make recommendations. (Contains 2 tables.)