The ability of colleges and universities to respond to their changing environments. The renewal of the nation's intellectual capital. And, in a broader sense, the nature and meaning of work and its relationship to the idea of careers in American culture. The papers in this volume were originally prepared for and presented at the Sloan Conference. This initial chapter provides an overview of the present trends and explores data that helps put the ensuing chapters in context.
Research universities use proportionally far fewer part-time or adjunct faculty.
The rise in numbers of part-time faculty has paralleled a rise in production of doctorates. Although oversupply of doctorally prepared prospective faculty may account for some of the heavy reliance on part-time faculty, oversupply appears to be only one factor, and then only in some fields, such as the humanities. The increasing enrollment and program offerings of community colleges appears to have been the most important factor behind the rise in part-time faculty. The rise also paralleled the dramatic leveling off of state support for higher education in the early 1990's. Sloan Seminar participants did suggest that part-time faculty may be hired to help absorb increasing enrollments or to help develop new or changing programs.