The increasing use of part-time faculty in higher education

The increasing use of part-time facultyin higher education

By Taryn Grieder & Alison Dunn

What are three qualities of an effective faculty member

at any PSE institution?

Full-time vs. Part-time

Ontario colleges in 2010-2011

68% of the academic staff is part-time!

*Source: Colleges Ontario 2012 Environmental Scan

Academic Staff Number

Full time 7,140

Part time 15,425

Total 22,565

Full professors vs. others

Student/Faculty Ratio

Ontario – 2000 Ontario – 2010 Rest of Canada – 2010

22:1 28:1 21:1

A recent trend?

• 1989: Rajagopal & Farr found increase in use of PT faculty since the 1960s

• Blamed it on “financial crisis in Canadian higher education”

• 2005: OCUFA recommending hiring 11,000 FT faculty by 2010

• Increases of 450 faculty per year

The outlook for universities?

“The outlook is extremely bleak for increasing the faculty complement in Ontario to levels that have a noticeable impact on student-faculty ratios. The odds of making substantive improvements in student-faculty interaction are thereby reduced as well.” – Trends in Higher Education: Trends in Faculty Hiring at Ontario Universities, OCUFA, 2009

The outlook for colleges?

What does this mean for PSE?

• Impacts access, quality and funding• Impacts are both positive and negative• Quality impacts are mostly negative• Funding impacts are mostly positive• Access is affected by impacts to quality and

funding

Why part time?1. Money• Budget goes to salary

and benefits• Faculty salaries are high

in both sectors• Limited teaching loads• Increased retiring age

*Source: Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Why part time?

2. Changing ideologies• Increased move to

“productivity” and “efficiency”

• Push toward larger class sizes

• Increasing enrolment without corresponding budget increases

University part-time (contract) Instructors

“We don’t do it for the money” – anonymous

Ex. Teaching one half-credit course at Ryerson for ‘3 hours’ per week for ‘4 months’ earns approximately $5000.

“Roads Scholars”

By the numbers

• Overall, number of positions increasing.• Mostly P/T (non-tenure track)• Sometimes 45-59% of teaching (Clark et al.)

• Undergrads may not meet a tenured professor in first few years.

• vs smaller town.

• Effects on student success?

Temptation

• Avoid writing assignments to save grading time.

• Self-censor in the absence of protection for academic freedom.

• Avoid rigor and/or inflate grades to boost student evaluations.

• Indulge students to build popularity and attempt to assure a continuing contract.

Are there any benefits!?

• Flexibility: Ability to respond quickly to shifting demands for numbers or types of courses.

• Maintenance: allows departments to maintain (or enhance) their programs when there is no money for F/T replacement or a new hire.

• Quality: Increased quality of undergraduate teaching by giving students access to “fresh,” “up-to-date,” and “applied” approaches.

BUT lack of office space/hours, possibly knowledge, updated courses/materials.

Money vs Tenure

• Tenure is expensive!• No cap on tenured professor’s salary.• Savings of approximately 50% (or more) for P/T• Revenue per student grows 2% but costs grow

4-5% annually (Clark et al).

• But what about the students?

Quality

Table 4.5. The economics of full-time and part-time faculty (Clark et al.)

F/T P/TTotal operating revenue per course 40,250 40,250

Instructor’s annual salary 100,000 N/ASalary per course 25,000 6,000Benefits 30% 10%Total salary and benefits 31,250 6,600

Operating costs per course 19,250 19,250

Surplus (defecit) per course (11,500) 14,400

Options?Entirely F/T faculty cannot pay the bills…• Increase average class size to 55 students.• Increase F/T faculty teaching (6-7 courses).• Reduce operating costs by 60% (ie. admin).• Increase government revenue or student fees.

Access, Funding

• Need 45% P/T faculty!

Investing in F/T (or secure P/T) faculty

• Best for students• Instructors have lighter workload / more time• More time and energy for teaching• Job security (better classes)• Academic freedom

Would you murder for a position?

Murder an American! (we kid)

-University Affairs, 2009

• Foreign PhDs valued as ‘better’• P/T positions left for Canadians

Now what?

• Value our own degrees.• Allow tenure-track teaching faculty: Non-

researchers are no different than tenured faculty (Hoffman & Oreopoulos, 2009).

• Pay P/T instructors for what they actually work.

• Job security for P/T instructors.

Impact of part-time faculty in the college sector

• Institutions• Full-time faculty• Part-time faculty• Students

Impact on the Institution

Positive impacts:• Lower operating costs• Lower benefit costs• Greater talent pool• Reputation of faculty with industry experienceNegative impacts:• High attrition rate of faculty• Must provide education/teaching training

Impact on Full-time Faculty

Positive impacts:• Variety of expertise• Greater talent pool• Colleagues with extensive industry experienceNegative impacts:• Colleagues may not have good pedagogical

practices• Often must support colleagues with teaching

techniques, administration, etc.

Impact on Part-time FacultyPositive impacts:• Excellent income supplement• High hourly rate• Access to benefits while teaching• Little administrative responsibilitiesNegative impacts:• Must find other employment• Time is divided• Less opportunity to give students personal attention• Little to no job security• Paid for classroom hours only

Impact on Students

Positive impacts:• Exposure to wide variety of industry expertise• Faculty help with career planning, internships,

jobsNegative impacts:• Limited time to spend with faculty• Instructor has little formal education training

QUALITY

• How do we measure quality?• Greater shift toward “student success” (output

and value-added measures)• Colleges Ontario: “Transform” Ontario’s PSE

sector• How?

QUALITY

Features of a world-class institute:• Expanded capacity to “import” faculty• Access to 24-hour support• Use of technopedagogical tools, e-tutoring, e-

mentoring

Who will take this on?* Source: Colleges Ontario, Empower Ontario, September, 2012

QUALITY

“Colleges have a well-established history of focusing on learning outcomes. Faculty members are hired based on both their expertise in a program subject area and on actual workplace experience.”• Source: Colleges Ontario, Empower Ontario, September, 2012

QUALITY

Positive impacts:• Teachers are experts• Improves quality in a vocational institution

QUALITY

Negative impacts:• Expert =/= good teacher• Lack of awareness of pedagogical practices

New faculty orientation:• Effectively trains new teachers• 22 of 24 colleges offer this for FT faculty ONLY• Two-thirds of faculty are PT; do not receive this*Source: HECQO, The Role of New Faculty Orientations in Improving the Effectiveness of Postsecondary Teaching Part 2: College Sector, 2013

QUALITY

“Despite funding restraints, colleges have made it a priority to offer a teaching environment that gives students personal attention. Ninety-six per cent of college classes are taught in sections of 60 or fewer students.”*Source: Colleges Ontario, Empower Ontario, September 2012

FUNDING

• Majority of budget spent in salaries, benefits, etc.

• Government funding, tuition fees, etc.• Full-time salaries governed by province-wide

collective agreement

What if 68% of the faculty were full-time?

FUNDING

• PT instructors help keep cost of delivery under control

• Lower tuition, less need for research• Colleges can afford small class sizes that

improve quality

ACCESS

• Reliance on PT faculty benefits funding, keeps tuition low

• Small class size (for quality) reduces access

What’s the answer?

• More training for PT faculty• Clearer succession plans• Offer year-round pension and benefits to PT

faculty• Offer pay year-round (without changing level

of pay)• More flexible teaching arrangements

Back to those Americans…• Adjunct/contingent faculty members make up over 1

million of 1.5 million instructors in American colleges and universities.

• Many of these work at or under the poverty line ($2500 average per course).

• No health insurance. • Ineligible for unemployment

benefits. • No academic freedom

(can be fired at will). • No unions (illegal in

some states).

Research says:• First-year students enrolled in introductory

courses taught by part-time faculty are more likely than others to drop the class, and eventually drop out of college (Jaeger & Eagen, 2008).

• Increasing instructing by adjuncts negatively impacts F/T professors’morale and preparation time (Umbach, 2008).

Americans have rights!The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution ensure that individuals are not deprived of the basic rights of life, liberty and property in an unfair and arbitrary manner (Biles and Tuckman, 1986). These rights include:• To be heard with respect to economic and professional interests, and to

petition for redress of economic and professional grievances, in a meaningful and effective way.

• To bargain individually or collectively with one’s employer with respect to the terms and conditions of employment.

• To associate together through a chosen representative for the purpose of negotiating with an institution with respect to economic and professional interests on an equal basis.

In 1999, P/T community college instructors won the right to have the work they do outside the classroom counted toward theirretirement benefits (Schneider, 2000).

We’re not so different…

• P/T instructors in both the USA and Canada are facing similar problems.

• Canadian P/T instructors on average appear to have better working conditions.

Conclusions

Quality

Access Funding

F/T vs P/T. You tell us: What’s the solution?