The nature of the American academic workforce has fundamentally shifted over the past several decades. Whereas full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty were once the norm, the professoriate is now comprised of mostly non-tenure-track faculty. In 1969, tenured and tenure-track positions made up approximately 78.3% of the faculty and…

The use of contingent faculty in higher education in the United States has grown tremendously over the past three decades. In 1975, only 30.2 percent of faculty were employed part time; by 2005, according to data compiled by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS),…

The effects of reliance on part-time faculty in higher education have been much discussed of late. Most observers now agree that the increasing reliance on contingent academic labor has worrisome consequences for both students and faculty. The authors recently attempted to provide needed analysis of what drives the current reliance on part-time…

It is important for administrators, faculty, and policy makers to understand and consider how policies commonly associated with non-tenure-track faculty roles and working environments impact student learning. Many policies impede the ability of faculty to provide effective instruction that is aligned with departmental and institutional goals for…

The nature of the American academic workforce has fundamentally shifted over the past several decades. Whereas full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty were once the norm, more than two-thirds of the professoriate in non-profit postsecondary education is now comprised of non-tenure-track faculty. New hires across all institutional types are now…

At a time when colleges are under increasing financial pressure to rely more on part-time instructors, three new studies suggest that doing so erodes the quality of education many students receive. Part-timers' inability or unwillingness to devote more time to students outside the classroom, the research suggests, results in the denial of…

Two discussions explore the issue of part-time and temporary teaching appointments in colleges. The first discusses the negative impact these assignments have on the discipline of English. The second recognizes that these appointments are here to stay and offers suggestions for making a bad situation productive. (HTH)

Issues in the current debate about faculty tenure are reviewed, including academic freedom, curricular flexibility, the faculty job market, job security, short-term appointments, and part-time instruction. (MSE)

This inquiry is an analysis of the trend toward infusing practitioners into the preparation of school administrators. Motives for increasing the number of part-time employees in higher education are identified and specific problems associated with the deployment of these instructors are discussed. The argument is made that the merits of this trend…

This paper presents the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges' position in support of academic freedom and tenure. It includes a brief history of academic freedom in the United States, highlighting the American Association of University Professors' fundamental policy statement from 1940. Statements attacking academic freedom and tenure…

As part-time faculty are employed in increasing numbers by institutions, questions of their legal status arise. In the areas of individual rights and freedoms of teachers, status in terms of tenure, promotion, contract renewal, and compensation (salary and benefits), all long-standing inequities in the treatment of part-time faculty, must be…

This document contains the results of California court decisions in litigation involving the status, or status and pay of part-time faculty in California community colleges. The information in the report was obtained by asking each California community college president and district superintendent to report whether their college or district was,…

The American Association of University Professors statement concerns policies and practices that open senior academic appointments to persons with reduced workloads and salaries without loss of status. (MSE)

The trend toward hiring of part-time faculty, most evident at two-year colleges, angers many faculty groups. Critics contend the practice exploits part-time teachers to help colleges balance their budgets, erodes educational quality, and threatens tenure. These faculty are also most likely to be laid off during retrenchment. (MSE)

Over the last generation, the instructional staffing system in American higher education has experienced a significant reduction in the proportion of jobs for full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members and a dramatic growth in fixed-term full- and part-time instructional jobs without tenure. About 70 percent of the people teaching in…