Resolution on Non-Tenure Track Faculty as Directors

Date

Background

Over the past 10-15 years, the proportion of tenure-track and tenured members (TT) among Rutgers faculty has decreased from over 55% to less than 40%. The increased reliance on non-tenure track (NTT) faculty and part-time lecturers (PTLs) and apparently capricious decisions by untenured faculty impacting the professional lives of NTTs and PTLs prompted us to investigate the leadership roles that NTTs and other untenured staff may play in the university operations. This trend has taken place while decision making responsibilities have shifted to the school deans while leaving individual departments with diminished resources and reduced capacity to manage their own affairs.

We found that many NTTs have now been appointed as directors of instructional programs, research centers, and in some cases, as interim department chairs. More specifically, we have identified 35 such cases relevant to teaching (such as undergraduate program directors), and 46 NTTs appointed as directors of research centers (among centers recognized as distinct entities by Rutgers Administration) at Rutgers – New Brunswick.

This practice has several pros in its favor; for example, NTTs (and PTLs) may relieve the administrative burden from TT faculty members, so that they can dedicate more time to scholarly pursuits. Furthermore, there are individuals with unique skills (industrial, managerial, etc.) who may not wish to join Rutgers full-time yet wish to contribute to teaching and research.

On the other hand, there are several potential pitfalls that we have identified as well, including:

  1. NTTs cannot freely exercise independent judgment in making decisions for the center/department (including reappointments of PTLs and other NTTs), because they have no job security and may be afraid of retribution;
  2. NTTs are not protected from short-term market forces, which may impede effective implementation of long-term educational/research initiatives;
  3. Reappointment of NTTs fulfilling teaching roles is largely contingent upon student course evaluations, which can be adversely affected when trying to maintain high academic standards, and may lead to grade inflation;
  4. The increased fraction of NTT faculty may impact on the balance of votes within departments and schools; in some cases a majority of votes may be cast by NTTs;
  5. It is unclear whether hiring NTTs to handle administrative tasks is a better option than hiring more administrative assistants to support TT faculty, who struggle to perform these tasks in addition to their regular duties of research and teaching;
  6. NTT faculty appointed to interim positions as department chairs may not undertake the labor of mentoring tenure-track and tenured faculty, a duty typically performed by department chairs, while there are no protocols to assign and properly compensate tenured, senior faculty to perform this work.

Resolution

Be it resolved that New Brunswick Faculty Council strongly recommends the creation of a task force comprised of TTs, NTTs (from research, professional practice, teaching lines, including the extension schools, libraries) and PTLs, to discuss and formulate appropriate policies regarding how to support and integrate all faculty members in the Rutgers community around issues of leadership and administration. The task force shall report the results and recommendations to the NBFC for review.