The Teaching Assistants Association (TAA) is a labor union representing the graduate students who teach most of the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan freshman and sophomore courses. (Author/PG)

Purposes that each higher education institution appoint an Academic Review Committee to protect faculty rights in antidiscrimination issues. This committee could also be a resource of expertise in academic issues for the government. (Author/PG)

Discussion of hiring by colleges and universities of part-time faculty suggests that while full-time faculty should teach the core of an institution's offerings, adjunct faculty are appropriately hired to enhance program quality, provide a variety of experiences for students, and teach specialty classes in selected disciplines. Also addresses…

Results of an American Council on Education survey on tenure practices are reported, including tables of tenure approval rates, tenure status (tenures, tenure track, and nontenure track) and tenure approval by type of institution. Data are divided by general academic field. (MSE)

Five differing viewpoints are presented concerning the success of affirmative action in higher education. (PG)

At Stanford University, The early retirement plan is an option for older faculty who, while continuing for the most part to serve their institutions well, nonetheless recognize a difficulty in competing with younger faculty who are attuned to today's approaches. (Author/PG)

As enrollment management assumes added importance and admissions officers confront increased pressure from diverse constituencies, the challenge will be to strike a balance that safeguards the professional integrity and economic security of the admissions officer and that protects the institution from incompetence. Four suggestions are offered.…

Affirmative action as a form of regulatory policy may produce a productive cultural mosaic but cannot in itself achieve healthy diversity. A college wishing to diminish discrimination, create a safe and secure work and educational environment, and provide support for family life must institutionalize diversity programs to succeed. (MSE)

The President of San Jose State University, noting that a major impact of collective bargaining in higher education will be in the area of academic standards, discusses the dispute over "open files," maintaining that confidentiality of peer judgement is the best way to assure candor and honesty in evaluating faculty performance. (JT)

Institutions should make decisions of academic merit on the basis of academic achievement and decisions of employment on the grounds of economic sensibility. A person could "get tenure," but be denied employment for economic reasons. The formalization of a status passage would permit a sensible treatment of talented academic aspirants. (MLW)

Flexible tenure contracts are proposed as an alternative to the current college faculty tenure system. Such a contract would make more explicit, and potentially more varied, the contributions expected of the candidate, but avoid the tenure-track/non-tenure-track distinction. It could also help resolve conflicts over the relative weights to be…

Experience in the corporate sector suggests that human resources practices that promote success in an environment of rapid change, complexity, and unpredictability support at least three values: flexibility; access to information by people at all levels; and risk-taking. While academic tenure is not necessarily inconsistent with these practices,…

Possible administrative policies to defer the tenure decision and slow the addition of tenured faculty are examined, including extended probationary periods, suspension or abolition of the "up-or-out" rule, term contracts, and change in tenure quotas. Examples of current use, strengths and weaknesses of alternatives, and opinions within the…