Non-Tenured Faculty on the Rise

The study explored the dramatic increase in non-traditional faculty at universities across the nation and discusses the differences between non-tenured faculty and tenured faculty.

The study, titled "The New Professoriate," was conducted by the American Council on Education, an organization dedicated to ensuring equal educational opportunities and access to higher education as cornerstones of a democratic society.

The number of tenured professors is growing at pace much slower than that of non-tenured professors, rather than decreasing, said study author Eugene Anderson.

Anderson attributed the increase to a surge in the undergraduate population while economic restraints increased with the recession in the late 1980s.

The hiring of non-tenured faculty benefits colleges and universities economically because non-tenured faculty are paid considerably less than tenured faculty.

According to the study, part-time professors were paid on average $11,500 in 1998, full-time, non-tenured professors were paid $41,500 and tenured professors were paid almost $60,000.

Colleges can offer a course taught by a part-time faculty member for a fraction of what the same course would cost if taught by a full-time faculty member, the report stated.

Critics of non-tenured professors claim that such professors do not have time for students outside the classroom.

But the study showed that part-time faculty spent 3.9 hours advising students, one-tenth more hours than tenured professors.

Anderson said the dramatic increase of non-tenured professors would not result in a decrease of educational quality.

If anything, an increase in part-time professors will increase education quality, he said.

Part-time professors often bring to the classroom professional experience, with expertise in specific areas.

Institutions with a large number of part-time faculty can decrease or increase course offerings as enrollments fluctuate.

Detractions to non-tenured faculty include lack of integration and support of such faculty with tenured faculty and non-involvement with institutional governance and curriculum policy.

Anderson said the study is a benchmark for institutions across the United States to see how they compare to peer institutions.

It allows institutions to better know who constitutes their faculty and how to better balance tenured and non-tenured professors, he said.

Betsy Brown, UNC-system associate vice president for academic affairs, said non-tenured faculty growth has been much slower in North Carolina than the rest of the nation.

She said this is due to a slower student population growth than other states.

Institutional hiring trends were more incremental than rushed to provide instructors for burgeoning classes.

She also cited budget flexibility, uncertainty about funding and fluctuating class subjects as reasons for the increase in non-tenured professors.

"It's not as simple as a good or bad thing," Brown said. "You have to weigh what kind of contributions you need from each position."

Tenured professors contribute in all facets of university life, where part-time professors often just instruct and advise.

Brown insisted that non-tenured professors do not in any way detract from undergraduate education experience. They are no less effective in teaching, she said.

She also said non-tenured professors bring with them professional experience, especially in the case of lawyers, writers and businessmen who may teach a class while working full-time in another career.

UNC-system schools has seen a substantial increase in part-time, non-tenured professors over the last decade.

In 2000, 43 percent of all the faculty at the 16 system campuses were not on the tenure track, Brown said.

Only 33 percent of all UNC-system schools' faculty in 1993 were on the tenure track. The national average is 62 percent, up from 41 percent in 1990.

UNC-Chapel Hill had the lowest percentage of non-tenured, full-time faculty and the second lowest percentage of non-tenured part-time faculty within the UNC system.

The UNC system's committee on non-tenure track faculty presented recommendations for system schools in reference to the hiring of non-tenured faculty.

The recommendations included the development of plans to define the desired mix of various types of faculty hiring, the offer of multi-year contracts to full-time non-tenure faculty and equitable salary systems and fringe benefits.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.