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Historians Condemn Abuse Of Contingent Appointments
The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians issued a joint statement in May on the use of adjunct faculty. It argues that excessive reliance on part- and full-time non-tenure-track faculty appointments is detrimental to students, departmental reputations, and most faculty members. Moreover, the statement asserts, such overuse undermines the quality of academic life, turning history departments into "bus depots rather than collegial meeting places."
The statement makes recommendations on contingent appointments, including that the pay scale for part-time faculty should be set at a minimum of 80 percent of what a comparably qualified full-time faculty member would receive for teaching a course, with adjustments to account for the amount of time spent in research and service or administrative duties. In addition, part-time faculty should be eligible for proportional benefits, particularly health insurance; the proportion of courses taught by part-time faculty, including graduate students, should not exceed 20 percent at four-year institutions, 30 percent at research institutions, and 40 percent at community colleges; evaluation procedures for part-time faculty should be clearly stated and include a defined probationary period, with pay raises and preference in hiring following the probationary period; and part-time faculty should have access to the same kinds of support available to full-time faculty, including office space, telephones, computer and library facilities, parking, eligibility for conference grants, and clerical support.
The full statement is available at <www.theaha.org/press/PR_Parttime.htm>. The AAUP's statement on contingent faculty appointments, published for comment in this issue, is on pages 59-71.
The two historians' organizations say they will continue to collect data on the use of part-time faculty in history departments, and that they will ask accrediting organizations and media outlets that provide listings of colleges and universities to include information on institutions' use of part-time faculty.
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