Nontenured faculty's claims to tenure as a property right, by virtue of common law principles, are examined from historical and litigation perspectives. The common law analysis proposed is applied to employment relationships in private and public institutions. (MSE)

Reports survey results of psychology departments with graduate programs relative to staffing of introductory psychology courses at large research-oriented universities. Discusses concerns generated by the use of nontenure position people as instructors. Cites supervision of instruction, televised courses, and incentives for teaching as examples of…

Employment of part-time, temporary, and non-tenure track faculty can be hazardous to programs, institutions, individuals, and even the character of the academic profession, but in some situations, when carefully applied, it may lead to substantial benefits. (Author/MSE)

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…

Many colleges and universities are hiring full-time faculty on contract instead of on tenure tracks, saying alternatives to lifetime job security are needed to control costs and assure flexibility. The number of full-time non-tenure-track professors almost doubled between 1975 and 1995, while full-time faculty on tenure tracks fell 12%. (MSE)

Even at institutions where highly trained, highly motivated, and deeply committed part-timers teach, part-time instruction can adversely affect teaching, the support of students, the general quality of education, and morale in departments.

In this introduction to the papers in this volume, the author argues that the central role of contingent appointees in undergraduate education is beyond dispute, and, yet, the implications for undergraduate learning are very much in dispute. Understanding of this issue and correction of such problems as may exist begin by focusing discussion of…

A paradigm shift in the use of faculty appointment types is occurring in academia. Using National Study of Postsecondary Faculty data, this study examines the influence of appointment type on faculty productivity--research and education--and commitment at Research and Doctoral institutions. All full-time faculty and a subset based on experience…

This annotated bibliography offers summaries and evaluations of 23 research reports originally published from 1968 through 1995 concerning the status, acceptance, and professional development of new and junior faculty at institutions of higher education. Studies report on the sources of stress faced by new faculty, sources of aid, and programs…

This report, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, presents a narrative summary of information received from 280 higher education institutions that responded to an American Association for Higher Education survey on tenure policies, practices, and trends. Provosts were asked to indicate whether their campuses had considered or…

Contends that pretentious methodology, apologetics for those in power, and ornate abstractions of language are the result of self-interest and financial exploitation in the social sciences at the university level. Innovation and creativity are thus stifled among the untenured. Journal available from 7 Harwood Drive, Amherst, New York 14226. (KC)

Results of a national survey concerning medical school policies for employing nontenured clinician-educator faculty, the titles given to faculty members in these tracks, and special features of employment are presented. (MSE)

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)

Departmental changes by faculty staff are suggested to be one solution to the budgetary problems of some institutions, rather than the more prevalent practice of nonreappointment of untenured faculty. (LBH)

A professor of law comments on potential legal obligations incurred by an institution in providing reasons for a decision not to reappoint a nontenured faculty member. (LBH)