The Part-Time Faculty Advantage

Abstract

Metropolitan colleges and universities draw on a rich pool of talented people to serve as part-time faculty. Our study shows that parttimers now teach major portions of undergraduate studies and that most institutions plan to use more in the future. We use data from our national study to describe who the part-timers are, how they contribute to their institutions, and the conditions in which they now work. We suggest how to use them in ways that strengthen academic programs and make a series of policy recommendations to that end.