The rise in numbers of non-tenure track faculty (NTTF) and the impact on student success is not a simple causal relationship. Rather, it is a complex formula of academic supports, strategic staffing, and professional socialization that drives student retention and, inevitably, graduation. At the center of the administration, policies, students,…

We use CUPA-HR data to analyze representation and pay equity for women and racial/ethnic minorities in higher education full-time faculty from 2016-17 to 2022-23, across tenure status, rank, discipline, and total operating expenses of institutions. Results indicate that, despite some growth in the representation of women and faculty of color in…

The Faculty in Higher Education Survey collects data from approximately 853 higher education institutions on over 270,000 full-time faculty (tenure track and non-tenure track), as well as academic department heads and adjunct (pay-per-course) faculty. Data collected for full-time faculty include: salary, supplemental salary, and course relief (for…

Psychology remains one of the more popular undergraduate majors in higher education. A sizable number of psychology faculty complement this discipline's popularity as a major. Overall, psychology faculty make up about 5% of the total faculty population. In this brief, we provide a snapshot of psychology faculty data: how their salaries compare to…

This brief explores the state of the full-time health professions faculty workforce by examining: overall growth in the number of full-time health professions faculty relative to all other disciplines; the percentage of full-time positions that are non-tenure-track versus tenure-track; faculty composition in the health professions compared to all…

This report builds on work of the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success, initiated in 2012, that has documented changes in the academic profession and its implications for higher education. While the Delphi Project has aimed to address specific issues--for example, by conducting and disseminating research on how faculty…

In 2006, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching developed an elective classification for community engagement for institutions of higher education. To receive the classification, campuses must complete an application and respond to questions by providing evidence that demonstrates a commitment to sustaining and increasing their…

This dissertation explores the socialization of full-time, non-tenure-track (FTNTT) faculty members at two U.S. urban, public research universities. The increase in the use of non-tenure-track faculty appointments has been driven by the need to maximize the use of limited resources, while at the same time, address the need for increases in…

Among the many challenges facing college and university boards, one set of issues often is overlooked: those involving employment of non-tenure-track faculty members and the policies and practices shaping their work. There are a number of compelling reasons why boards not only should become knowledgeable about the relevant policies and practices,…

In this paper, the authors call for an approach that, in recognizing the economic realities facing most institutions, attempts to put aside objections that funding is simply not available to support an expansion of the current tenure system. In calling for the changes in faculty working conditions, the authors recognize that change will…

A combination of destructive trends in higher education--shrinking state budgets, stagnant student aid, the growth of corporate-style management, the overuse and exploitation of contingent faculty, increasing workloads and attacks on academic freedom--is weakening the educational integrity and professionalism of American colleges and universities.…

This Digest discusses issues related to full-time, nontenure track, contract college faculty, sometimes called contingent faculty. Recent data from several sources show that the opportunities for tenure are declining, while the numbers of nontenure positions are increasing. Part of the increase in full-time nontenure faculty is due to the decrease…

Examines the larger implications of the academic labor movement, especially in relation to democratic governance of higher education institutions. Discusses the American Association of University Professors, focusing on the rights of nontenured and part-time faculty and graduate student employees and noting how the Association works to end their…

This report responds to a resolution from the Illinois General Assembly directing the State Board of Higher Education to study issues affecting the use and compensation of nontenure-track faculty. Surveys of teaching faculty and key administrators were conducted, and public institutions provided data on the numbers, workload, and salaries of all…

Many faculty members were optimistic about their economic prospects for 2004-05. They saw signs of--or at least hope for--economic recovery all around and were ending a year in which overall average faculty salaries had grown by the smallest percentage in decades. Following the pattern of recent years, this annual report first examines the…