Description: The bifurcation of the academic labor force into tenure-line and contingent faculties has allowed institutions to maintain a strong research profile while reducing instructional costs. But the rise in the percentage of classes taught by contingent faculty members means that we must consider the economic and ethical implications of current employment structures. Even sympathetic tenure-line faculty members have a stake in the status quo: under a less stratified system, they could lose privileges. How has the increasing divergence in the interests of tenure-line and contingent faculty members contributed to deteriorating employment conditions for the latter, and can they be improved without undermining tenure?

Speakers

Cynthia A. Current, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Veronica Popp, Elmhurst C

Jill Robbins, U of California, Merced

Jennifer Ruth, Portland State U

Robyn L. Schiffman, Illinois Valley Community C

Presider

David Tse-chien Pan, U of California, Irvine