Advocacy
Coalition on the Academic Work Force
At the November 1998 meeting the Board approved the Academy’s participation in the Coalition on the Academic Work Force (CAW) and endorsed its Statement of Purpose. With this, the AAR joins a growing number of American Council of Learned Society organizations and others concerned with the state of the academic work force, particularly adjunct and temporary faculty, and the quality of higher education. These organizations include:American Association of University Professors
American Mathematical society
American Philosophical Association
American Studies Association
Archaeological Institute of America
College Art Association
Modern Language Association of America
National Council of Teachers of English
National Humanities Alliance
Organization of American Historians
Society for Cinema Studies
Society of Biblical Literature
Each society has agreed to work in a collaborative effort to collect data on, evaluate the impact of, and make recommendations for good practices for the growing use of part-time, temporary, and non-tenure-track faculty. Associate Director Edward R. Gray regulars attends periodic meetings of the Coalition. Look to this space for continuing updates on the work of CAW or contact him for more information.
The text of the Statement of Purpose follows:
Coalition on the Academic Work Force
The growing use of part-time, adjunct and temporary faculty is the most serious of a number of problems affecting the current academic work force. Faced with budget limitations, many institutions find part-time and adjunct faculty appointments irresistibly cost-effective. Yet, often, the terms and conditions of part-time and adjunct appointments are inadequate to support responsible teaching and research. This trend has engaged the attention of a number of national scholarly organizations concerned about the maintenance of quality higher education.
In September 1997, representatives of ten national academic associations agreed to issue a "Statement from the Conference on the Growing Use of Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty," which described trends and consequences, identified guidelines for good practice in institutions that employ part-time and adjunct faculty and presented an Action Agenda for implementation of these good practices. The academic associations that participated in preparing the Statement have invited other organizations to join together in a coalition to address the growing use of part-time, adjunct and temporary faculty and related issues concerning the academic work force.
Purpose
The purposes of the Coalition on the Academic Work Force are: (1) to collect and disseminate information on this trend and its implications for students, parents, faculty, and institutions, (2) to articulate and clarify differences in the extent and consequences of these changes within and among the various academic disciplines and fields of study, (3) to evaluate the consequences of these developments for achieving and maintaining quality higher education, (4) to evaluate both short-term and long-term consequences for society and the public good of changes in the academic workforce, (5) to identify and promote strategies for solving the problems created by inappropriate use of part-time, adjunct and other similar faculty appointments, and (6) to collaborate in action designed to strengthen teaching and scholarship.
Organizational Participation
In joining the coalition, member associations agree: (1) to participate through their administrative, elected, and/or volunteer representatives, as seems most appropriate for each organization, in occasional meetings of the coalition, (2) to bring to the attention of their members, the "Statement from the Conference on the Growing Use of Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty," (3) to present the Statement and Action Agenda by appropriate association governing bodies, (4) to participate in the development of an agenda of continuing coalition work activities intended to encourage the implementation of the good practices identified in the Action Agenda (including, for example, research, member information, development of common position statements, meetings with representatives of other organizations and institutions, (5) to provide minimal financial assistance, as agreed, to support those specific work activities on which all members of the coalition are in common agreement, and (6) to explore opportunities for collaboration on joint work activities outside of the coalition, where such activities are of interest to some, but not all, of the individual associations (including, for example, public information and advocacy).