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Flexibility in Faculty Careers

By Gretchen M. Bataille

Several years ago when my colleague Betsy Brown and I set out to write a book on flexibility in faculty careers, the world of higher education was a different place. The healthy economy made it possible for us to make recommendations about faculty renewal, sabbaticals, shared positions, and flexible benefits. Much has changed since then, and university presidents are struggling to ensure that students can be admitted, that faculty can be hired to teach them, and that those same faculty will receive appropriate salaries and support. It would be easy to shrug our shoulders and say that we just can’t address the needs of our faculty in this economic climate, but I would argue that this is an important time to do so if we are to preserve a future for higher education that enables our faculty members to do what they do best—teach our students, contribute to research and creative activities, and serve the greater good.

We can be flexible by changing who we hire, what our faculty do, and how we reward them. We know that the number of tenure-track hires is decreasing and being replaced by contingency faculty. We should declare that the model of the "freeway flyer" or the "trailing spouse" is over and instead explore hiring a cadre of faculty who bring a different set of experiences to the classroom. The University of North Texas (UNT), for instance, has hired an attorney to teach estate planning in the College of Business and an executive of a nonprofit international council to teach international studies. In addition, two administrators who were hired last year asked if they could teach as part of their responsibilities because they still want to work with students. As "new" faculty, these administrators bring a unique set of experiences to the classroom that enhance the educational experience. They already are covered by insurance, have offices, and, most importantly, are receiving positive student evaluations.

In that same vein, creating opportunities for faculty to opt for positions such as "professor of the practice" or "teaching professorship" provides ways to hire those who don't want to have a career that includes both research and teaching. Faculty who opt out of the traditional research role will teach more students, be more creative about content and assessment, and will lead the way in addressing students' different learning styles. These faculty members' "research" will be about how institutions can do a better job of addressing the changing demographics of our student population and creating content relevant to a changing world. . . .

Excerpted from the winter 2010 issue of The Presidency. To subscribe to the magazine, please call (301) 632-6757, or order online.