The Use of Contingent Faculty and the Effect on Student Success

Vann Priest Presented at the 2011 Summer Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers and Rio Hondo College Fall 2011 FLEX Day

Contingent Faculty

• Adjuncts, post docs, TAs, non-tenure-track faculty, clinical faculty, part-timers, lecturers, instructors, or non-senate faculty • Insecure, unsupported positions with little job security and few protections for academic freedom

AAUP Position

• “While it recognizes that current patterns of faculty appointment depart substantially from the ideal, the Association affirms its 1980 and 1993 recommendations that no more than 15 percent of the total instruction within an institution, and no more than 25 percent of the total instruction within any department, should be provided by faculty with non-tenure-track appointments.

California Educational Code Section 87482.6

• “...the Legislature wishes to recognize and make efforts to address longstanding policy of the board of governors that at least 75 percent of the hours of credit instruction in the California Community Colleges, as a system, should be taught by full-time instructors. ”

Issues

• Inadequate compensation • No benefits • Lack of professional support • Institutional priorities • Weakening of academic freedom • Effects on students • www.aaup.com

I’m just the messenger!

Retention in STEM Courses at RHC

• Retention • Courses with FT Faculty Only: 62.0% • Courses with PT Faculty Only: 62.4% • Courses with FT Faculty with FT and PT Faculty in Labs: 61.5% • Courses with PT Faculty with FT and PT Faculty in Labs: 61.0%

Success in STEM Courses at RHC

• Success • Courses with FT Faculty Only: 60.3% • Courses with PT Faculty Only: 62.4% • Courses with FT Faculty with FT and PT Faculty in Labs: 60.0% • Courses with PT Faculty with FT and PT Faculty in Labs: 60.9%

Daniel Jacoby

•

Effects of Part-Time Faculty Employment on Community College Graduation Rates.

• The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 77, No. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2006) • “The main result from this study is that increases in the ratio of part time faculty at community colleges have a highly significant and negative impact upon graduation rates.”

Paul D. Umbach & Matthew R. Wawrzynski

•

FACULTY DO MATTER: The Role of Faculty in Student Learning and Engagement

• Research in Higher Education, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Mar. 2005) • “... first-year students are more likely to interact with faculty on campuses where those faculty offer greater academic challenges.” • “ First-year students and seniors reported greater gains in personal social development, general education knowledge, and practical competencies on campuses where faculty members engaged them using active and collaborative learning exercises.”

Paul D. Umbach

•

How Effective Are They? Exploring the Impact of Contingent Faculty on Undergraduate Education

• The Review of Higher Education, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Winter 2007) • “This study offers some compelling evidence to suggest that, compared with their tenured and tenure-track peers, contingent faculty, particularly part-time faculty, are underperforming in their delivery of undergraduate instruction. “ • “While this study identifies some deficiencies among contingent faculty, it is important not to lay the blame entirely on faculty in these appointments.”

Paul D. Umbach

•

The effects of part-time faculty appointments on instructional techniques and commitment to teaching

• Paper Presented at the 33 Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Jacksonville, FL, November 5-8, 2008 • “Part-timers will exhibit lower levels of commitment to their institution and will exhibit lower levels of instructional performance.”

Kevin M. Eagan, Jr.

& Audrey J. Jaeger

•

Closing the Gate: Part-Time Faculty Instruction in Gatekeeper Courses and First Year Persistence

• New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 115 (Fall 2008) • “Students appear to be significantly and negatively affected by having gatekeeper courses taught by part-time faculty.”

Kevin M. Eagan, Jr. & Audrey J. Jaeger

•

Unintended Consequences Examining the Effect of Part-Time Faculty Members on Associate’s Degree Completion

• Community College Review, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jan. 2009) • “Findings indicate that students experienced a significant yet modest negative effect from exposure to part-time faculty members on the probability of completing an associate’s degree.”

Kevin M. Eagan, Jr. & Audrey J. Jaeger

•

Effects of Exposure to Part-time Faculty on Community College Transfer

• Research in Higher Education, Vol. 50, No. 2 (2009) • “Findings suggest that students tend to be significantly less likely to transfer as their exposure to part-time faculty increases.”

Andrea J. Jaeger

•

Contingent Faculty and Student Outcomes

• Academe, Nov./Dec. 2008

Thomas Bailey, et al.

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Community College Student Success: What Institutional Characteristics Make a Difference?

• Achieving the Dream [www.achievingthedream.org] • “Students in colleges with more part-time faculty also have lower graduation rates.”

Curtis V. Smith

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The Impact of Part-Time Faculty on Student Retention: A Case Study in Higher Education

• Dissertation, University of Missouri – Kansas City (2010) • “This study supports findings in the literature review and two previous statistical analyses that increasing exposure to part-time faculty has a negative impact on retention.”

Roger G. Baldwin & Matthew R. Wawrzynski

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Contingent Faculty as Teachers: What We Know; What We Need to Know

• American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 55, No 8 (Aug. 2011) • “Findings indicate that the teaching practices of part-time contingent faculty differ in important ways from their other faculty colleagues.”

Davis Jenkins

•

What Community College Management Practices Are Effective in Promoting Student Success? A Study of High- and Low-Impact Institutions

• Achieving the Dream [www.achievingthedream.org] • “Community colleges would be more effective if they do the following: Provide support for faculty development focused on improving teaching.”

Davis Jenkins

•

Redesigning Community Colleges for Completion: Lessons from Research on High-Performance Organizations

• CCRC Working Paper No. 26, Assessment of Evidence Series. New York, NY: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. (2011) • “Colleges should provide opportunities for adjunct faculty to collaborate with full-time faculty members on improving curricula and instructional quality in the fields they teach. ”

What Can We Do at RHC?

• Campus-wide forums • A dialogue between FT and PT faculty facilitated by the Academic Senate and RHCFA • A conversation among all campus constituencies

Acknowledgments

• Office of Institutional Research & Planning Howard Kummerman – Dean of Institutional Research and Planning Annel Medina – Research Specialist • Math & Science Division Nanci Gralapp • Staff Development Committee

Slides Available at

• faculty.riohondo.edu/vpriest/links.html