Fair
Use Notice
Release
date: September 8, 2003
Contact: Gwendolyn Bradley
202-737-5900 ext. 3012
gbradley@aaup.org
AAUP Issues Draft, "Statement of Policy on Contingent Faculty
Appointments and the Academic Profession"
Washington, D.C.— The American Association of University Professors
today issued a draft policy statement,Contingent Appointments and the
Academic Profession. The statement addresses the overuse and abuse of
part-time and non-tenure-track faculty that threaten the quality and
stability of higher education today.
The proportion of faculty appointed to tenure-line positions is declining
at an alarming rate. Forty-three percent of faculty appointments are
part time, and over half of new full-time appointments are off the tenure
track.
“Contingent” appointments include all those off the tenure
track, whether part or full time, and whether compensated on a per-course
or salary basis. Individuals holding such appointments are called by
a wide variety of titles including “adjuncts,” “lecturers,”
“instructors,” and “visiting professors.”
Contingent Appointments and the Academic Professionmakes new recommendations
in two areas: increasing the proportion of faculty appointments that
are on the tenure line, and improving job security and due process protections
for those with contingent appointments.
The proportion of tenure-line appointments may be increased in two ways:
changing the status of faculty members currently holding non-tenure-track
appointments, and creating new tenure-line appointments. With the first
method, individuals holding contingent appointments are offered tenure-eligible
reappointments. With the second method, new tenure-line positions are
created and open searches are held for candidates to fill them. In both
cases, a well-planned transition to a higher proportion of tenured faculty
should be accomplished primarily through attrition, retirements, and,
where appropriate, “grandfathering” of currently contingent
faculty into tenured positions. Faculty in contingent positions should
not bear the cost of transition.
The draft policy recommends that when contingent faculty appointments
are used, they should include the full range of faculty responsibilities
(teaching, scholarship, service); comparable compensation for comparable
work; assurance of continuing employment after a reasonable opportunity
for successive reviews; inclusion in institutional governance structures;
and appointment and review processes that involve faculty peers and
follow accepted academic due process.
The draft policy discusses the negative effects of the increased use
of contingent faculty appointments on academic freedom, undergraduate
education, and academic collegiality. No matter how qualified and dedicated,
many contingent faculty members are hobbled in the performance of their
duties by a lack of professional treatment and support.
“The draft policy statement not only reinforces the longstanding
commitment of the AAUP to apply the principles of academic
freedom and shared governance to all faculty, including those on contingent
arrangements, it provides guidelines for the implementation of reasonable
standards for their employment. If adopted, the statement will be one
of the most significant recent additions to the Association’s
inventory of policy statements, addressing as it does a major threat to
the quality of higher education and the integrity of the professoriate,”
says AAUP president Jane Buck.
The draft policy builds on previous AAUP policies, includingThe Status
of Part-Time Faculty (1980),On Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track Appointments
(1986), andThe Status of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (1993). Recognizing
that the use of contingent appointments has increased dramatically since
even the most recent of these statements was issued, a joint subcommittee
of the Association’s Committee on Part-Time and Non-Tenure-Track
Appointments and Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure revisited
the issue, affirming the AAUP’s longstanding policy that all faculty
with full-time appointments should be eligible for tenure after a reasonable
probationary period, and that part-time and non-tenure-track appointments
should be limited to no more than 15 percent of total instruction within
an institution and no more than 25 percent within a department.
The draft is published for comment. Comments will be received,
and the draft will be submitted to the Association’s governing
Council for adoption as Association policy.
The full reportContingent Appointments and the Academic Professioncan
be found at [www.aaup.org/statements/SpchState/contingent.htm]. It will
also appear in the September–October issue of the AAUP’s
magazine,Academe.
Additional contacts:
David Gruber (660) 785-7245; dgruber@truman.edu
Professor of philosophy at Truman State University (Missouri)
Chair of the AAUP contingent statement drafting subcommittee
Elizabeth Hoffman (562) 985-5692; ehoffman@csulb.edu
Lecturer in English at California State University–Long Beach
Member of the AAUP contingent statement drafting subcommittee
Karen Thompson (732) 445-2278, ext. 21; kgt@rci.rutgers.edu
Part-time lecturer in English at Rutgers University
Member of the AAUP contingent statement drafting subcommittee
Richard Moser (202) 737-5900, ext. 3043; rmoser@aaup.org
AAUP field staff
The American Association of University Professors is a nonprofit charitable
and educational organization that promotes academic freedom by supporting
tenure, academic due process, and standards of quality in higher education.
The AAUP has 45,000 members at colleges and universities throughout
the United States.
Robin Burns
American Association of University Professors
Department of Public Policy and Communications
1012 Fourteenth Street, NW, #500
Washington, DC 20005
rburns@aaup.org
202-737-5900 ext. 3013
800-424-2973
FAX 202-737-5526
________________________________________
Return
to Top
Fair
Use Notice