The Professoriate of the Future: The Next 100 Years Julie Schmid, Executive Director

Before looking ahead, we need to look at where we are.  Over past thirty years, the profession has undergone restructuring and “deprofessionalization.”  This has been concurrent with a radical defunding of public higher education by state legislatures.  Post-WW II social contract has been broken.

What does this mean for our profession?  Nationwide trend, 70% of all faculty appointments are contingent.  This includes full-time, non-tenure-track, and part-time “adjunct” faculty. This number jumps to 77% if we include grad employees.  Lack of lack of economic security leads to a fraying of academic freedom.

Faculty appts.,

What does this mean for our profession?  Governance is at risk. Fewer faculty in governance-eligible positions.  Increasing tendency to “dump” governance on junior colleagues.  Administrative overreach into governance.  Breakdown of academic citizenship/increased disciplinarity/divide and conquer.

What does this mean for our profession?  Administration’s tendency to go around recognized shared governance bodies to consult hand-picked group of faculty.  Pseudo-exigency as a way to cut instructional positions outside of shared governance.  MOOCs for credit and “competencies” instead of grades/criteria developed by faculty.

How we take back higher ed.  We need to reclaim the big ideas—including the importance of a liberal arts education in the formation of an educated, engaged citizenry.  US social mobility post WW II is linked to affordable, accessible higher ed.  The future of the professoriate is fundamental to the future of higher ed. This includes faculty’s material well-being.

How we take back higher ed.  You cannot have US higher ed (in the sense that we all understand it) without academic freedom.  You cannot have academic freedom without economic security.  Tenure is the best means for ensuring economic security and academic freedom.  Where we cannot achieve tenure, we need real job security for contingent colleagues.

AAUP’s new mission statement  The mission of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is to advance academic freedom and shared governance; to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education; to promote the economic security of faculty, academic professionals, graduate students, post ‐ doctoral fellows, and all those engaged in teaching and research in higher education; to help the higher education community organize to make our goals a reality; and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.

How we take back higher ed.  Faculty—in broadest sense of the term—are the stewards of the institution. We need to reassert this role.  All those engaged in this work should have a role in governance (see AAUP statement on The Inclusion in Governance of Faculty Members Holding Contingent Appointments).

How we take back higher ed.  AAUP’s 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities articulates a vision of academic citizenship. It reads: “The faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process.”

How we take back higher ed.  We need to engage other organizations/community members who share our goals (AAUP’s Centennial Declaration).  We need to engage parents, students, & alumni. Research shows that the public supports public higher ed and also faculty job security.  We need to engage our colleagues off the tenure-track.

How we take back higher ed.  We must acknowledge that the fate of tenure is linked to the fate of our colleagues in contingent appointments.  We need to acknowledge that there is no “adjunct crisis.” Rather there is a system-wide crisis (see Aaron Barlow’s January 20, 2014, Academe Blog Entry, or Marc Bousquet’s work on the academic job system.)

How we take back higher ed.  We are in a shared struggle. We need to focus on what unites us. In the labor union world this is called solidarity.  AAUP’s One Faculty Campaign ( campaigns/one-faculty).  Focus on job security for faculty in contingent appts—either through CB or handbooks as a way to take away the incentive for contingency.

Organizing around shared issues  At the state and campus level, we need to identify issues of shared concern and organize and mobilize around them.  We need to be strategic in identifying these issues and single minded in pursuing them.  We need to recognize that our strength is in collective action. AAUP is putting more resources into helping our chapters and conferences with developing skills for collective action.

Potential leverage points  Legislative bodies  Boards of trustees  Campus governance bodies  Student groups  Community groups  Press/media

Final thoughts  We need to be thinking long term while also developing strategies for small wins along the way.  We are fighting to reverse a thirty-year trend. This will require a sustained effort.  We need long-term and short-term goals.  We need to work together as a united movement.

Questions?  