This article presents the outcomes from a case at Marquette University (USA), brought by seven Ph.D. adjuncts who had completed their doctoral programs and were currently teaching part-time as they sought full-time positions elsewhere. The case identified a disparity that is happening at many U.S. colleges and universities that increasing rely…

The growing use of part-time, non-tenure track faculty in higher education has become a nationwide phenomenon. The college-teaching part-time instructor is one who is working for low pay, has little job security, and has few benefits. College part-time instructors' employment is in a contingent state. They do not have the job protection provided…

Employment of part-time faculty members by community colleges has become an increasingly common approach to reducing institutional costs, which may have unintended consequences for student outcomes. This study examines the relationship between part-time faculty members and the associate's degree completion of community college students. The…

Plainly, part-time/adjunct faculty members now play a vital role in educating the nation's college students. Even so, the data and research on part-time/adjunct faculty members have tended to be pretty spotty. This survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers, is one of the first nationwide…

This chapter summarizes resources from the recent literature on part-time community college faculty.

This article discusses the demographic profile, employment motivations, and changing roles of virtual faculty who hold part-time appointments. These insights are drawn from a 2006-2007 survey of forty-two part-time faculty working for virtual universities under the purview of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities for the…

While it may provide greater economic efficiency, the increased use of part-time faculty in colleges and universities has been strongly criticized. The criticisms of increased employment of contingent faculty are based on research that supports the idea that faculty-student interaction leads to positive outcomes, including increased cognitive and…

As anyone who has ever defended a thesis or been on a tenure track must know, American institutions of higher education have rigorous and finely calibrated ways of according respect to those who work in them. What they do not have enough of is respect from those beyond their gates. The author argues that the system that created the two-tiered…

Donald Schon's theory of reflective learning (1983, 1987) has been the model of professional education for decades. Yet little research is done to examine the role of practitioners as part-time teachers in professional education in light of his ideas. This research investigated four programmes of professional education in Hong Kong: (a) a master…

This chapter analyzes data from the 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to suggest that community college part-time faculty can be understood as temporary labor in the new economy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review the barriers associated with implementing a campus-wide smoke-free policy as perceived by the American Cancer Society's Colleges against Cancer (CAC) Program chapter representatives. Design/methodology/approach: Four focus group sessions were conducted at the annual CAC National Leadership Summit in…

Approximately 85,000 part-time teaching staff working in further education (FE) and adult and community learning (ACL) are often seen as "a problem". The intrinsic "part-timeness" of these staff tends to marginalise them: they remain under-recognised and largely unsupported. Yet this picture is over-simplified. This article…

In light of growing speculation that the autonomy of community college faculty members is eroding, this study draws on the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to explore the institutional and personal variables that predict faculty satisfaction with authority to make decisions about content and methods in instructional activities. Results…

This article talks about the retired faculty members from different types of institutions around the country that were interviewed to find out how well their preparations for retirement are serving them now. Like other state employees in California, faculty members at public institutions participate in the California Public Employees' Retirement…

Across the nation, schools increasingly are tapping into a vast resource pool--retired educators. The potential effects of the retirement boom--baby boomers reaching retirement age--have been well documented. An April 2009 "New York Times" article estimates that by 2013, more than one-third of the nation's 3.2 million teachers could…