Scholars who teach composition, a staple on the schedule of many a college freshman, often wind up stringing together a series of adjunct teaching jobs while keeping an eye out for that first step on the golden track to tenure. This article reports on a group of 20 people hired by St. John's University to teach in its first-year writing program,…

A furlough is a cross between a vacation and getting fired. College employees have the day off, but they are not getting paid. A few college employees are adhering to the letter of their unpaid furloughs, but most have trouble drawing the line between life and work. In these lousy economic times, a handful of colleges have already instituted…

The fiscal year that begins on July 1 for most colleges is expected to bring a wave of layoffs, as institutions grapple with declining state contributions, a falloff in donations, and other budget pressures. Eliminating jobs can create a number of legal pitfalls, including potential lawsuits for breach of contract or discrimination. If handled…

A case that the Indiana Supreme Court recently ruled on dealt with the question of whether a professor whose fixed-term contract expires becomes unemployed on a voluntary or involuntary basis. Indiana State University appointed William LaFief as an assistant professor of marketing for the 2004-2005 calendar year. After reappointing him for…

The Employ American Workers Act was added to the stimulus bill in February by U.S. Senators Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Bernard Sanders, an Independent from Vermont. It prohibits financial institutions that receive federal bailout money from hiring foreign workers if they have recently laid off American workers in similar jobs or…

In spousal hires, university administrators too often fail to make the important distinction between partners who most likely would not have been hired under normal circumstances and, thus, could be a burden on an institution, and those who would be an attractive hire under any circumstances. One is a "trailing" spouse in need of "an…

The idea of providing returning veterans with benefits as both a reward for their service and as a means of enabling them to reintegrate into civilian life dates to the early history of the United States. Revolutionary War soldiers received military pensions, land grants, and other forms of care, depending on their service and its location. After…

Results of a new survey of family-friendly benefits by the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor show that stopping the tenure clock has become the most common family-friendly benefit in higher education, following paid maternity leave. Other family-friendly policies that top the list in academe allow…

In this article, the author offers his ad hoc reflections on the question of just how many academic couples a department could comfortably accommodate from the point of view of good governance, in the hope of getting an honest dialogue started and seeing some reasonable guidelines eventually created by one organization or another as a result. He…

The tenure system is a tenure of one's own making. It can be flexible, supple, and responsive to the diverse needs and life situations of faculty members, or it can be rigid and uncompromising. The tenure years need not be a time of high anxiety, but for that to happen, institutions will need to make structural changes in the tenure system. In…

Examines reactions of faculty, administrators, and state policymakers after three years of experience with a contract (rather than tenure) system at Florida Gulf Coast University. Reports that a faculty panel issued a report calling for automatic contract extensions for professors performing well and the possibility of legislative intervention…

A key part of the compensation package for some college and university presidents is money that they do not receive in their paychecks. Formally known as deferred compensation, such payments can take many forms, including supplemental retirement pay, severance pay, or even bonuses. With large institutions leading the way, deferred compensation has…

Describes how, at Ithaca College, three faculty pregnancies tested a department's ability to cope. (EV)

Professors and the Florida State Board of Regents have agreed to experiment with an alternative to tenure at Florida Gulf Coast University, scheduled to open in 1997. Administrators will have the option of whether to offer new professors tenure or multi-year contracts. The arrangement is a compromise between elimination of tenure and the contract…

Describes how, although trustees used to shake hands with a new president to seal a deal, both are now insisting on formal terms of employment. (EV)