On Understanding the Rise in Non-Tenure Track Appointments

Abstract

This short paper discusses some aspects of the recent increase in the number of full-time non—tenure track faculty appointments. It considers alternative explanations for the growth and concludes that the predominant cause seems to be that institutions have elected to offer non—tenure track appointments, not that they are forced to by inadequate finances or projections of declines in student enrollment. This tentative conclusion rests on some statistics which imply that tenure track appointments tend to be offered more frequently in fields where there is also more upward pressure on salaries and where new faculty appointments may have a wider choice of alternatives.