Are We Moving Toward an Expanded Role for Part-time Faculty?

Abstract

The 30-year trend of increased use of part-time faculty in higher education warrants the following questions: Are part-time faculty roles changing in light of the increased presence of part-time faculty in the academia? In addition, what is their contribution to the educational institution's mission of research, teaching, and service? Boyer's model of scholarship was used in this research to answer these questions. The author discusses the research findings and their implications.

Predictive Factors Impacting Intent-to-Stay Teaching for Associate Degree Adjunct Clinical Nurse Faculty

“…Schools of nursing innovatively utilize adjunct faculty to fill the gap experienced from increased student enrollments and lack of qualified full-time nursing faculty. Within nursing education, the majority of adjunct nurse faculty members are hired to teach in the clinical role and are essential to fill changing course loads each semester delivered at a cost savings (Caruth & Caruth, 2013;Creech, 2008;Duffy, Stuart, & Smith, 2008). Despite the importance of adjunct faculty, barriers exist to job satisfaction and intent to stay in the teaching role.…”

“…Faculty can fulfill teaching roles in the didactic (traditional classroom and online), laboratory, and/or clinical settings. Schools of nursing report the clinical setting as the largest unfilled faculty need and most notably staffed by adjunct faculty (Creech, 2008;Duffy et al, 2008;Forbes, Hickey, & White, 2010;Koharchik, 2014;Peters & Boylston, 2006;Roberts & Glod, 2013;Santisteban & Egues, 2014;West, 2010). The significant need for clinical teaching is attributed to structured limitations for clinical learning set by state boards of nursing or individual schools of nursing with teacher to student ratios of 1:8 to 1:12 (Caton, Conner, DeWitt, Jones, & Stubbs, 2007;Dickson, Walker, & Bourgeois, 2006;Teel, 2008;West et al, 2009).…”

“…In addition to teaching requirements, the full-time faculty role also includes maintenance of office hours, student advisement, scholarship, community service, and college service. Colleges have traditionally utilized full-time faculty to teach college classes because they have the pedagogical expertise, advanced degree credential, curriculum development proficiency, research involvement, scholarly writing capability, and many years of clinical experience (Creech, 2008). The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing [ACEN], 2013) developed standards and criteria for AD professional nursing programs that require full-time faculty members hold the minimum of a master's degree with a major in nursing.…”

Cultivating Adjunct Faculty: Strategies Beyond Orientation

“…Of late, general use of adjunct faculty within all colleges and universities was about 73% of the total faculty (Stainburn, ). Employing adjunct faculty serves nursing programs by (a) decreasing financial expenditures associated with exclusively employing full‐time faculty, (b) increasing flexibility in didactic course and clinical offerings, and (c) compensating for unfilled full‐time faculty positions across educational settings (Creech, ). Yet, while adjunct faculty may successfully meet some of the challenges faced by nursing programs, they themselves face many challenges hindering their success as nurse educators.…”

Faculty Roles: Dilemmas for the Future of Nursing Education

“…There has been a substantial increase in the number of part‐time faculty in baccalaureate nursing programs. Part‐time nursing faculty increased by 17% from 1996 to 2002, while full‐time faculty grew by only 10%, reaching almost 50% of educators (Creech, ). A study on nursing faculty in the old Carnegie Foundation I and II classifications universities found that, contrary to the belief that part‐time nursing faculty were not an integral part of the educational endeavor, they have a broader scope of responsibility for the teaching and service mission than commonly thought (Creech, ).…”