Mirroring a national trend, more and more classrooms at MU are being staffed by non-tenure track faculty rather than tenure-track and tenured professors.
In the past decade, non-tenure track faculty has grown by 86 percent in comparison with a 3.4 percent growth in tenure-track and tenured faculty.
Several factors can be attributed to the spike in non-tenure track faculty hiring, but one most often cited is economic.
“There (have) been financial drops from state funding since 2008,” Faculty Council Chairman Harry Tyrer said. “The university administration has taken care of this by reducing hiring in permanent positions or those on the tenure track.”
It is significantly less expensive to hire someone on the non-tenure track than the tenure track, Deputy Provost Ken Dean said. Non-tenure track contracts are usually yearly, whereas tenure-track positions are long-term commitments. Tenure-track faculty also has higher startup costs, such as science labs for research.
The School of Medicine has the most non-tenure track faculty with 334 members, and it has grown by 98.8 percent from 2002 to 2011. Non-tenure track faculty members also have larger roles in the School of Journalism, growing by 108.3 percent from 2002 to 2011 with 50 current members.
Non-tenure track faculty is divided into four categories: teaching, research, clinical/professional and extension. The massive non-tenure track growth seen in professional schools such as the School of Journalism and the School of Medicine can be attributed to a greater emphasis on hands-on learning, said Clyde Bentley, associate professor and Faculty Council member.
“Professional practice faculty make up about 60 percent of the journalism faculty,” Bentley said. “What’s stronger, a Pulitzer or a Ph.D.? In professional schools like journalism, a professor’s experience can outweigh academic degrees for some positions.”
Though non-tenure track faculty provides vital classroom and research support, Dean said he thinks more tenured hires need to happen as MU continues to grow.
“In order to continue to be a high-quality research institution, we have to make tenure-track hires,” Dean said. “Tenure-track professors do research, publish and keep the discovery and flow of information and knowledge going.”
Despite the fact non-tenure track faculty now make up more than 30 percent of MU faculty, they do not have a representative group and cannot vote on Faculty Council or university-wide matters.
Richard Guyette and Nicole Monnier, two of four members who represent non-tenure track faculty on Faculty Council, both said they hope the issue of voting will be pushed this year.
“Most things come to the executive committee first, and we are able to help guide and shape academic issues,” said Monnier, who serves on the executive committee. “So in some ways I feel I have been able to do a lot, but when it comes time to vote on a resolution, I can’t. That’s just absurd.”
The term “faculty” will have to be redefined in the Collected Rules and Regulations in order for non-tenure track faculty to gain a vote, Guyette said. The Collected Rules and Regulations currently define faculty as only tenure-track and tenured.
“We have been working in Faculty Affairs for a year on the definition of ‘faculty,’” Guyettee said. “It has progressed, and my hope is it will go to a vote eventually.”
Overall, the increase of non-tenure track faculty in the classrooms has benefited students rather than harmed them, Monnier said.
“NTT faculty are hired to teach or research a specific thing, and they tend to do it very well,” Monnier said.
