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…

Public debate over higher education has changed from questions about education, learning, scholarship, and professional service to performance criteria measured in quantitative, business-like indicators, such as revenues and costs of operation. The rules have changed, and new consumers have new concerns and challenges for higher education. Faculty…

Although consulting has long been recognized as a legitimate faculty role in most colleges, concern has arisen about the appropriateness of "double dipping," and particularly whether consulting and other supplemental income activities result in shirking other university responsibilities. The debate centers on six basic issues: who…

The year-round calendar is an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional 9-month school calendar. This digest examines the benefits and challenges of teaching in year-round schools. Year-round schools may be on a single-track or multi-track schedule. Single-track schedules call for an instructional year of 180 days with short breaks…

Reviews the literature concerning part-time faculty characteristics, salaries, recruitment, orientation, and staff development. Provides a bibliography of relevant works selected from the ERIC junior colleges collection. (JP)

This two-page information review discusses the controversy over merit pay for teachers. The incidence and characteristics of merit pay programs are considered as well as the advantages and disadvantages of such programs. The question of whether merit pay is instrumental in improving teaching is raised. A list of 17 references is provided. (JD)

The demand for child care services in the United States continues to grow, stretching the levels of program quality to the limit. In fact, the country is facing a crisis in child care. Affordable child care continues to be a major issue for many families. Solutions to the current crisis in child care must, in addition to insuring affordability,…

The incidence and extent of faculty consulting are examined, along with the characteristics of faculty who consult and those who do not, costs and benefits of faculty consulting, the economic status of faculty, and policy considerations. A conceptual framework and historical context are provided that relate consulting and other faculty activities…

Recruiting and retaining qualified, competent teachers is an ongoing problem for small school administrators. The reasons for high turnover are numerous and complex, e.g., preservice preparation is presently more suitable for large, metropolitan schools than for small, rural schools; career orientations fail to recognize that experience in small…

This digest examines prekindergarten teacher licensure, which enables states to ensure a level of specialized knowledge and experience among early childhood professionals. A recent movement toward specialization has led to more states offering early childhood education licenses (which is beneficial since the best predictor of appropriate teacher…

Issues and steps in the search process for both faculty and administrators are considered, based on a review of the higher education literature, selected literature from the corporate and industrial personnel field, and conversations with personnel practitioners and consultants. After discussing organizational tasks for the search committee and…

Recent concern for the quality of education has placed pressure on school administrators to assess and upgrade the competency of their teaching staff. No simple formula exists for measuring teacher competency, however, nor are any new methods guaranteed to improve the quality of instruction. Nevertheless, through a combination of clinical…

The success of a merit pay program depends primarily on careful, cooperative planning involving all constituencies who will be affected, so that the resulting plan is affordable, acceptable to teachers, and adapted to the needs of the district. Criteria for awards should reflect the goals of the program, and should be applied fairly and…

Merit pay programs are based on the simple idea that educators should be paid what they are worth; yet these programs face a host of practical problems, mostly centering on the difficulties of developing and administering such systems. A review of research shows that money may not be the best way to motivate teachers, who are more influenced by…

Legislators and school districts are reviewing alternative compensation plans in an effort to attract and retain qualified teachers. Limited merit-pay based plans have been abandoned, and the single salary schedule remains in place nationwide. A tight labor pool, greater scrutiny by legislatures, and new laws create pressures to raise salaries…