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Faculty Issues

Faculty

Faculty Issues

As faculty continue to remain critical components of an institution’s effectiveness and productivity, Presidents and their senior administrators need to foster an environment conducive to faculty retention and continued advancement. ACE has recognized this important issue and has designed programs to assist institutions in preparing faculty for successful careers in academe. Presidents interested in these issues can join the National Challenge for Higher Education campaign, launching soon and view the resources and publications listed below.

Programs
Resources
Publications

Featured Content

  • Document

    Number and Growth of Faculty, by Gender and Rank: Selected Years (2005, 2007, 2009)

    The Center for Policy Analysis is responsible for the content in ACE Fact Sheets on Higher Education.

  • Document

    Literature Review of Faculty Retirement Transitions

    ACE’s Literature Review of Faculty Retirement Transitions for the Sloan Foundation’s Working Longer Program. This 9 page literature review contains 140 references on the topics of retirement, faculty retirement, and managing faculty compositions. Topics include; Faculty Retirement Trends; Implications of an “Aging” Faculty; Faculty Retirement Policies and Programs; Retirement Planning by Faculty; Retirement Intentions of Faculty; Satisfaction and Vitality of Senior Faculty and the Decision to Retire; Retirement Transition Theories; Retirement Transition Experiences; Postretirement Activities, Satisfaction, and Needs; and the Intersections between Institutional and Individual Needs

  • Document

    Supporting the Culminating Stages of Faculty Careers: Legal Issues

    An ACE White Paper, funded by the Sloan Foundation. Brief History of Mandatory Faculty Retirement, The Nature of Age Discrimination, Voluntary Retirement, Retaliation, Contract Issues in Phased Retirement, Benefits and Age Discrimination, Retirement Incentives and the Safe Harbor, Tax and Other Twists and Turns, and An Operational Lesson in Retirement Incentives.

Previous Content

  • June 19, 2013

    ACE Launches National Challenge for Higher Education to Promote Faculty Work-Life Balance

    The National Challenge for Higher Education: Retaining a 21st Century Workforce campaign asks college and university presidents to promote faculty career flexibility on their campuses.

  • Content Item

    March 11, 2013

    ACE Recognizes Sloan Foundation, President Paul Joskow for Support of Academic Work/Life Balance

    ACE honored the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and President Paul Joskow for their long-term contributions to higher education on work/life balance, student access and other issues earlier this week at its 95th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

  • September 24, 2012

    Winning medical school representatives

    Medical Schools Make Strides on Work-Life Balance for Academic Physicians

    ACE and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation honor five medical schools today by awarding each a $250,000 grant for excellence in faculty career flexibility. Two additional institutions will receive $25,000 each for promising practices in the field.

  • August 29, 2012

    ACE Fellows Explore Higher Education Planning Process During Visit to DePaul

    Participants in the ACE Fellows Program visited DePaul University Aug. 27 to explore how an institution uses its long-term planning process as a tool to meet institutional mission goals.

  • Document

    July 24, 2012

    Full-time Instructional Faculty, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Academic Rank: 2009

    The Center for Policy Analysis is responsible for the content in ACE Fact Sheets on Higher Education.

  • Document

    July 24, 2012

    Average Salary of Full-Time Instructional Faculty on 9-Month Contracts, 1971-2011

    The Center for Policy Analysis is responsible for the content in ACE Fact Sheets on Higher Education.

  • June 18, 2012

    Innovative Practices in Faculty Retirement Honored With $100,000 Grants

    ACE and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation today recognized 15 colleges and universities that demonstrate cutting-edge approaches to supporting faculty before, during and after their retirement transitions. Awardees will each receive $100,000 grants to accelerate innovative practices.

  • Document

    June 9, 2009

    Faculty in Times of Financial Distress

    A paper discussing a last resort to alleviate severe financial difficulty for most institutions—the layoff of faculty members. The paper covers the role of faculty in institutional budget matters and the process of terminating faculty positions on grounds of financial need.

  • Document

    September 1, 2008

    Too Many Rungs on the Ladder?

    There is a dearth of young permanent faculty who will have the time and opportunity to advance up the academic career ladder into positions of administrative leadership at colleges and universities. This scarcity of young academics seems to be the combined result of three developments: an aging professoriate, rising numbers of part-time and non–tenure-line faculty, and students completing doctoral education and entering the professoriate later in life. This issue brief describes the demographics of junior faculty, explains why there are so few young adults in the professoriate, outlines the level of experience expected of current leaders, and discusses the implications for the future leadership of higher education.

  • Document

    January 1, 2005

    An Agenda for Excellence: Creating Flexibility in Tenure-Track Faculty Careers

    The American Council on Education, with generous support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has partnered with the National Panel of Presidents and Chancellors from 10 major research universities to raise awareness and spark national dialogue on the need for creating flexibility in tenure-track faculty career paths.

ACE Related Programs and Initiatives

National Challenge for Higher Education: Retaining a 21st Century Workforce

The National Higher Education Coalition, composed of college and university Presidential Coalition Partners and the American Council on Education, has developed a campaign to engage their colleagues in creating an increasingly broader awareness of the positive benefits of workplace flexibility for both institutions and their faculties. Successful implementation of flexible options in academic settings depends on leadership support in both words and actions, training of key leaders (provosts, deans, department chairs, search and tenure and promotion committees), tracking of key metrics, and an openness to changing the culture to accept new ways of working.

ACE Leadership Academy for Department Chairs

The Academy builds on the legacy of ACE's longtime highly regarded Department Chairs Workshop to engage chairs in a yearlong community of learning.

Alfred P. Sloan Projects for Faculty Career Flexibility

Alfred P. Sloan Projects for Faculty Career Flexibility

This series of projects highlights and rewards institutions that effectively recruit, retain, and advance faculty in their careers as a means of developing institutional capacity. Recent programs include efforts to create smooth transitions into retirement for faculty, and working with medical schools. Working with pilot institutions and systems to understand their challenges, ACE develops strategies and policy recommendations through invitational conferences, awards programs, and presentations at national meetings. In addition, an online toolkit links to proven practices that other colleges and universities can replicate for institutional effectiveness.