FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions About Contingent Academic Labor Issues

The following questions and brief answers seek to serve as a general introduction to the issues, answering the most commonly asked questions while providing some links for further detailed analysis and discussion. At the same time, we hope to provide basic facts that will be useful in clarifying what is at stake and why these issues are so important to the future of our society and to the lives of our students. FAQs that should be included? Contact Chris Storer

What is "Contingent Academic Labor?"
What does the Faculty Look Like and How is it Changing?
Why is the use of Contingent Professionals an Issue?
Who teaches undergraduates in postsecondary institutions?
How much do various types of faculty employees teach?
What do various types of faculty employees teach, or otherwise do?

What is "Contingent Academic Labor?"                                    (Return to top)

During the first half of the twentieth century, the faculty in post-secondary education was composed of professionals, nearly all of whom were hired with an expectation of a mutual long-tem commitment between the institution and the faculty member. With the 1940 agreement between the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges, this commitment was expressed in a tenure or tenure-like employment relationship. Since mid-century a variety of short-term and part-time employment structures have emerged, sharing in common narrowing professional expectations and responsibilities usually limited to specific instructional duties. These non-tenure an non-tenure track employment structures are what have come to be termed "contingent academic employment," and they include various graduate student instructional and research assignments, other part-time faculty assignments off the tenure track, term appointments (usually on a yearly basis), and a rapidly growing number of FT term assignments with little or no formal commitment to future assignments. See "Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession" for more on this.

What does the Faculty Look Like and How is it Changing?      (Return to top)

The following Data Table (modified slightly) was assembled by Ernest Benjamin which is available on-line at http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/58/07879722/0787972258.pdf

Table A. Changes in the Distribution of Faculty and Graduate Assistant Appointments, 1975–1995

Source:National Center for Education Statistics (1995,1998).The 1998 data are based on appendix
Tables B1a and B7a of that issue; the 1975 tenure data are constructed from Tables 9 and 10 of
the 1995 issue. Historical data for graduate assistants based on U.S. Department of Education,
Digest of Education Statistics (2002, Table 214, for 1976).

Why is the use of Contingent Professionals an Issue?                (Return to top)

Post-secondary institutions claim that the use of contingent faculty provides program and budgetary flexibility, allowing them to keep courses open that might be closed due to unforeseen fiscal shortfall, and to add specialized curricula even though student demand is not sufficient for the long-term commitment of a tenure track position. This is certainly true. However, growth of contingent faculty employment, and the areas of primary appointments do not fit the arguments. In Fall 2002, The National Center for Education Statistics Reported on a statistical analysis of the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) 1998 data, available on-line and as a pdf at: http://nces.ed.gov/das/epubs/2002209/conclusions.asp

This study begins to answer the following questions:

Who teaches undergraduates in postsecondary institutions?      (Return to top)

(From NSOPF:1999; "Teaching Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Institutions: Fall 1998," NCES 2002-209) While 81% of full-time instructional faculty provided some form of instruction, only 74% taught classes, and only 71.3% of credit hours were assigned to full-time instructional faculty. Of full-time faculty, 28% were off the tenure track and generally taught a higher percentage of undergraduate classes. Also, in four-year institutions, 71.4% of part-time faculty reported teaching only undergraduate credit classes while the number for full-time faculty was 58.2%.

One should note that, of full-time tenured and tenure track faculty who did report teaching at least one undergraduate credit course, 78.4% also reported having one or more teaching assistants, while only 32.7 of full-time non-tenure track faculty reported having teaching assistants.

It is also interesting to note that, of all faculty in four year institutions, 67.9% of female faculty reported teaching exclusively undergraduates while 59.7% males reported similarly.

How much do various types of faculty employees teach?            (Return to top)

There are large differences in teaching load between various types of institutions but the comparative Fall 1998 data for undergraduate credit hours of instruction taught by various full-time teaching faculty classifications is instructive. (From NSOPF:1999; "Teaching Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Institutions: Fall 1998," NCES 2002-209)

*The survey only reported on loads of up to 5 classes per week. Since 7% of faculty reported teaching more than 5, this data probably underestimates the actual differences between average loads of the various types of faculty.
**Part-time faculty data is by institution and does not account for aggregate teaching loads of faculty teaching at more than one institution. 89% reported that teaching was their principal activity, but this is in regard to other assignment related activities. BUT NOTE THAT, in "A Profile of Part-time Faculty," from the NCES Working Paper Series, 32% of part-time faculty reported employment at another postsecondary institution and 59% reported they accepted part-time employment because full-time teaching positions were unavailable.

What do various types of faculty employees teach, or otherwise do?(Return to top)

You will note that the "principal activities" do not add up to 100%. This data leaves out NSOPF:99 category for "other activities which includes clinical service, on sabbatical from this institution, technical activities, other institutional activities such as library services, community public service, subsidized performer, and artist-in-residence. (From NSOPF:1999; "Background Characteristics, ... " NCES 2001-152)

*All public and private, not-for-profit Title IV participating, degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
** Includes institutions classified by the Carnegie Foundation as specialized medical schools and medical centers.
NOTE: This table includes all full-time faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff. Percentages may not total to 100 because of rounding.