2008 Woodie Awards
Universities hire more part-time faculty
Sam Holcomb
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 3 next >
When Frankie McCormick moved to Marquette in 1995, she had a Ph.D. in organic chemistry but no job.
Her husband, Don Marquardt, had been hired as a full-time chemistry professor at NMU, but there were no other job openings for which McCormick could apply. So instead of sitting at home, she took an adjunct, or part-time, faculty position with the chemistry department.
During her first semester at Northern, McCormick was assigned 11 credit hours-one shy of full-time, which would have afforded her higher pay and contractual benefits such as health care.
"You're working almost as hard as a full-time professor," she said. "You get in this position and it can be hard to move out of it, hard to move up."
After a series of part- and full-time appointments, McCormick made assistant professor in 2003, but many academics across the country face a similar scenario to the one she faced in 1995.
As universities' budgets dry up around the country, administrators are seeking cheaper staffing options, and because part-time faculty receive few benefits, university's are hiring adjunct instructors en masse. But while hiring more adjunct faculty may seem the perfect solution to budgetary woes, part-time faculty are forced to deal with tenuous contracts, a lack of benefits, low pay and oftentimes, a lack of credibility in their respective field.
Nationwide, 46 percent of faculty work part-time-a 50 percent increase since 1975, according to a 2006 report by the Association of American University Professors (AAUP). At Northern, 41 percent of the teaching staff is part-time, said Fred Joyal, provost and vice president of academic affairs.
"What we do is staff at the last moment," Joyal said. "If we open another section of English, we staff it with an adjunct. We intentionally will increase the number of low-cost faculty. We can't afford to pay all full-time faculty-unless we want University of Michigan tuition rates."
But while hiring adjunct faculty may be financially convenient for the university, the positions are often inconvenient for those filling them.
Her husband, Don Marquardt, had been hired as a full-time chemistry professor at NMU, but there were no other job openings for which McCormick could apply. So instead of sitting at home, she took an adjunct, or part-time, faculty position with the chemistry department.
During her first semester at Northern, McCormick was assigned 11 credit hours-one shy of full-time, which would have afforded her higher pay and contractual benefits such as health care.
"You're working almost as hard as a full-time professor," she said. "You get in this position and it can be hard to move out of it, hard to move up."
After a series of part- and full-time appointments, McCormick made assistant professor in 2003, but many academics across the country face a similar scenario to the one she faced in 1995.
As universities' budgets dry up around the country, administrators are seeking cheaper staffing options, and because part-time faculty receive few benefits, university's are hiring adjunct instructors en masse. But while hiring more adjunct faculty may seem the perfect solution to budgetary woes, part-time faculty are forced to deal with tenuous contracts, a lack of benefits, low pay and oftentimes, a lack of credibility in their respective field.
Nationwide, 46 percent of faculty work part-time-a 50 percent increase since 1975, according to a 2006 report by the Association of American University Professors (AAUP). At Northern, 41 percent of the teaching staff is part-time, said Fred Joyal, provost and vice president of academic affairs.
"What we do is staff at the last moment," Joyal said. "If we open another section of English, we staff it with an adjunct. We intentionally will increase the number of low-cost faculty. We can't afford to pay all full-time faculty-unless we want University of Michigan tuition rates."
But while hiring adjunct faculty may be financially convenient for the university, the positions are often inconvenient for those filling them.
Be the first to comment on this story