In 1993, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's governing board mandated peer evaluation for nontenured faculty. Participants in the American Association for Higher Education's peer review project feared the mandate would taint efforts to introduce faculty to collegial approaches to peer review. However, negative fallout from the mandate…

Interviews with 12 college faculty examined the increased use of clinical nontenure track faculty in teacher education programs. The paper presents a history of professional development school (PDS) work and staffing patterns at the University of Utah, describes the study, notes emerging themes, and considers implications for future PDS…

In early 1997, over 100 University of California, Hayward faculty members signed a statement of concern about the heavy use of part-time faculty as lecturers. Professors fear that increased use of lecturers threatens tenure, hurts quality of education, and reduces departmental continuity. Part-time faculty are generally treated as a different…

Analyzes scholarship on administrative leadership styles. Describes the writing program co-directorship model the author and a colleague developed at a Southern public university, and offers a critical analysis of both the possibilities and pitfalls of collaborative administration for untenured writing program administrators. Points out ways in…

At a time when some are critical of higher education's increasing reliance on part-time and adjunct faculty, many of those faculty do not seek tenure or full-time teaching positions. While they would like better pay and benefits, they prefer part-time work so they can pursue other jobs or interests and enjoy the teaching they do. (MSE)

This digest is a brief summary of a longer monograph of the same title on the importance of understanding faculty socialization as a cultural process in the context of the current changes urged on higher education. A section on how faculty socialization is conceptualized adopts a view of culture in which culture shapes and is shaped by social…

This paper discusses the legal precedents and implications for non-renewal of elementary, secondary, and university and college probationary faculty. Selected federal and state cases are reviewed to show the evolution of case law from the early 1950s to the present day. Analysis of the court cases reveals that for the last 40 years the courts have…

Drawing from 18 years of experience as an adjunct professor at a community college and 3 years as a non-tenured full-time faculty member, the President of the Faculty Senate of Valencia Community College (VCC) offers a number of personal observations on the ways in which adjunct faculty and faculty senates can address the problems encountered by…

Since the early 1970s the composition of faculty in communication departments and in higher education in general has changed dramatically. A review of the literature shows that increasingly, part-time instructors have come to dominate faculties in roles that have shifted from occasionally offering an outside specialty to regularly replacing…

The academic qualifications, experience, and productivity of nontenure-track and tenured/tenure-track full-time and part-time faculty at a state university are compared, based on the results of a 1985 study. Recommendations concerning working conditions and policy for nontenure-track faculty are also offered. Findings include: almost 87% of…

The role of academic staff and faculty members in college governance was studied at two public universities. The frame of reference was the social contract model, which posits that individuals give up some rights in order to have other rights protected. Documents were analyzed and interviews were conducted with 50 staff: full professors and…

The trend toward extending nontenured faculty members' probationary periods beyond the traditional 6 years, is discussed, along with problems faced by faculty at the time of nonrenewal, implications for academic careers, and the issue of multiple standards for faculty evaluation within an institution. (MSE)

The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher education issues. This publication contains the following articles: (1) "Truth in Tuition" (Susan C. Thomson); (2) In Katrina's Wake (Kathy Witkowsky); (3) News from the Center: New Center Associates; (4) Colorado On the Edge…

This paper identifies information sources on new and junior college faculty and summarizes information on (1) who the new and junior faculty are; (2) what their careers are like; and (3) the nature of their work experience. Differences between tenure and nontenure track faculty, the genders, and new and junior faculty are noted. (DB)

A case study of a large research university illustrates the increasing use of nontenured faculty. Origins of the expansion are examined, arrangements used to resolve staffing problems are described, and their effectiveness and general consequences for departments are assessed. It is concluded that while short-term negative outcomes can be…