Higher education has become structurally dependent on part-time faculty. Over the last two decades, the percentage of teaching done by part-time faculty has increased to approximately 45 percent. In 1992, in all fifty states, the part-time faculty cohort equaled 55 to 65 percent of all community college faculty (Roueche, Roueche, and Milliron, 1995).
The community college' s challenge-meeting escalating demands with declining resources-has resulted in spiraling increases in part-time faculty hiring. Such faculty are often hired to maintain close ties with business and industry; many are practitioners in the field in which they are teaching. That way, the college can remain on the cutting edge in the face of changing career needs, skill expectations, and the nature of work. Colleges are acutely aware that these same practitioners have strengthened the occupational and technical programs with the application of real-life perspectives. In addition, new skills-related technology courses often require expertise that full-time faculty do not have.
However, those who depend on part-time teaching for income or as entrΓ©e to a career face the reality of one-term contracts, median pay of $1,500 for a typical three-credit course (Avakian, 1995), a static pay scale, and only rare opportunities to convert their jobs into full-time appointments (making the foot-in-the-door promise an empty dream for most). In the end, part-time teaching experience translates into a red flag on a rΓ©sumΓ© that signals a suspicious pattern of temporary jobs.
The Landscape: A Systemic Picture
One-half of all current full-time community college faculty are expected to retire over the next five years. Coupled with decreased funding and the growing number of underprepared students, these projected retirements suggest that the demand for part-time faculty can only increase.