Contingent Faculty
 Higher
education faces a crisis of casualization. At many institutions, particularly
community colleges, temporary appointments outnumber permanent positions and
tenure is disappearing. Now the assault on tenure and the turn towards part-time
and contingent employment is reaching the research universities. Sadly, the
University of Washington is leading this dangerous trend.
Currently, only 40% of UW faculty are tenured or in tenure-eligible positions. The majority hold WOT, research faculty, and lecturer
positions. The growing number of lecturers, many of them part-time and lacking
even the most modest protections, is particularly alarming. AAUP has noted
recent incidents where lecturers have been dismissed without warning just as
classes were about to begin. Equally alarming, there have been incidents where
lecturers have been afraid to exercise academic judgment and free speech.
AAUP believes that excessive
use of, and inadequate compensation and professional support for, part-time and
non- tenure-track faculty exploits these colleagues and undermines academic
freedom, academic quality, and professional standards.
Here are AAUP's reports and guidelines on
Contingent Appointments and
the Academic Profession
UW-AAUP has been monitoring the shift
towards contingent and untenured faculty employment at the University of
Washington and other Washington colleges and universities. See our State
of the Faculty--2003 Report Card.
Below is a detailed
report by Dan Jacoby on the use of part-time faculty in the community colleges
and four-year institutions and of the efforts by the Washington Association of
Part-time Faculty to improve conditions of employment.
Is Washington State an
Unlikely Leader? Progress on Addressing Contingent Work Issues in Academia by Dan Jacoby
|
University
of Washington chapter