Perceptions of Non-tenure Track Faculty: Overworked and Undervalued or Inept Colleagues?

• In Event: Roundtable: Challenges Facing Non-Tenure Track (NTT) Faculty in a Changing Academic Environment

Abstract

As the years pass, more tenure track and tenured faculty are feeling their academic territory being encroached upon by the growing population of non-tenure track (NTT) faculty. The positioning of NTT faculty across the nation varies drastically. Some are part-time teaching faculty while other NTTs are full-time teaching and research oriented faculty who have an active role in faculty governance. In other words, some NTT faculty are in the peripheral while others are in the direct line of sight. Likely due in part to the proximity to NTT faculty members, tenured faculty seem to adhere to one of two perspective regarding their non-tenured colleagues; we are either overworked and undervalued in terms of status and salary, or we are in these lower ranking positions for a reason (i.e. we are inept or unqualified in some way). It is becoming increasingly difficult to change the narratives that accompany each of these perspectives and thus inequities in NTT positions continue to grow.

Author

• Brooke de Heer, Northern Arizona University