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AAUP's
Position on Contingent Faculty Appointments AAUP Council Adopts Policy on Contingent Faculty Appointments and the Academic Profession The governing Council of the American Association of University Professors adopted a new policy statement, Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession, on November 9, 2003. 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. Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession makes 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 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 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 policy builds on previous AAUP policies, including The Status of Part-Time Faculty (1980), On Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track Appointments (1986), and the 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 long-standing 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 AAUP has announced a new fund dedicated to supporting work on issues relating to contingent faculty appointments. The fund was established by the Association’s governing Council in response to an announcement by coeditors Benjamin Johnson, Patrick Kavanaugh, and Kevin Mattson that they will donate all royalties from their book Steal This University: The Rise of the Corporate University and the Academic Labor Movement to the AAUP for work on contingent faculty. While the media, politicians, business leaders, and the general public all seem to agree that quality higher education is indispensable, bitter conflicts brew over the shape of tomorrow's universities. In order to expand the fund into a truly significant source of funding to help in the battle for full professional status and academic freedom protections for contingent faculty members, contributions are needed. Contributions may be mailed to: Contingent Faculty Fund, c/o West Coast Office, AAUP, 15 Shattuck Sq., Ste. 200, Berkeley, CA 94704-1151. The fund will support and further issues of concern to contingent faculty through research, publication, leadership development, and other assistance to faculty when need arises. According to the fund guidelines, expenditures may be made from the fund for: *Financial
assistance to faculty at an institution where a significant
threat to contingent faculty arises Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL) A growing group of faculty activists is working to reverse the trend towards the overuse of part-time and non-tenure-track faculty appointments and the exploitation of faculty members who hold such contingent appointments. In response to this problem, a network of activists involved in contingent faculty issues formed the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL) in the late 1990s. COCAL's main function is to share information, to educate campus and wider communities, and to provide solidarity for faculty activists. COCAL is an independent, grassroots coalition with no regular staff or budget. Local COCAL working groups form to deal with specific issues, and they raise funds and hire staff as needs arise. In California, faculty from the University of California, California State University, and California Community College systems, believing that the exploitation of any class of faculty in California undermines the power and professionalism of all faculty, banded together to form a statewide COCAL that held its first conference in May, 2003. While the AAUP supports COCAL's work at the national level, the California Conference of the AAUP is a member of COCAL-CA and supports their efforts to educate, inform, and organize contingent faculty on campuses statewide.
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