Part-Time Teaching: Some Problems and Recommendations

Although several studies have been done on part-time teaching, a need still exists for more thorough and up-to-date information.* The most recent statistics available appear in a report by the Modern Language Association\u27s Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission found that in 1971, 57 percent of the part-time teaching positions in the modern languages were held by women. It also found wide variation in the treatment of part-time faculty. Thirty-three percent of the departments surveyed determined salary on a per course basis, usually $1000 to $2000, figures substantially lower than a per course breakdown for full-time faculty. Only 26 percent of the departments granted fringe benefits equal to those of full-time faculty; only 29 percent granted some fringe benefits to part-time faculty; and 37 percent granted no benefits at all. Twenty-eight percent did not include part-time faculty in departmental decisions and activities. Seventy-two percent did not credit part-time teaching for consideration with respect to tenure, promotion or sabbatical leave. Only one-third of the departments surveyed allowed flexible movement between part-time and full-time teaching. The American Association of University Professors is currently studying more recent part-time policies, but its statistical information is not yet available