Understanding the Full-time, Non-tenure-track Faculty Appointment

This dissertation explores the socialization of full-time, non-tenure-track (FTNTT) faculty members at two U.S. urban, public research universities. The increase in the use of non-tenure-track faculty appointments has been driven by the need to maximize the use of limited resources, while at the same time, address the need for increases in staffing flexibility (Baldwin & Chronister, 2001; J. M. Gappa, 2002). Between 1975 and 2007 full-time, non-tenure-track faculty appointments at U.S. colleges and universities increased by 242 percent, growing from 81,020 FTNTT faculty to 277,084 FTNTT faculty. The socialization theories of Merton (1968), Van Maanen and Schein (1979), Tierney and Rhoads (1993), Tierney and Bensimon (1996), and Cawyer and Friedrich (1998), and the Essential Elements of Faculty Work and Workplaces (J. Gappa, Austin, & Trice, 2007), which included employment equity, academic freedom and autonomy, flexibility, professional growth, and collegiality, provided the framework for this research. Socialization constructs drawn from the socialization theories and essential elements were developed to allow the reader to identify and to fully understand faculty socialization experiences in the academy and included: Outreach, Recruit, and Hire; Coming-on-Board; Respect, Value, and Collegiality; Professional Support; and, Employment Compensation. Using the case study methodology, the socialization stories of seventeen full-time, non-tenure-track faculty members, told in their own words and in the words of thirteen tenured colleagues, were analyzed through the socialization constructs. These stories documented the participants\u27 need for respect, value and collegiality within the academic setting. Additionally, the participants acknowledged the contributions of practice, process and procedure to their individual socialization experiences. This study contributes personal insights into the socialization of full-time, non-tenure-track faculty from the initial recruitment and hiring stages through to a continuous appointment at the university