This article focuses on the academic job market for the field of Writing Studies primarily using data from 2021-2022 to provide insight for early career scholar-teachers. This study looks at the total jobs available for the 2021-2022 job market compared to previous years, the number of tenure-track (TT) and non-tenure-track (NTT) positions, rank…

Purpose: The aim of this scoping review was to identify key characteristics related to strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable training and professional development (PD) of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), teaching assistants (TAs), and tutors. While the continuous, coherent and responsive programmes for such training and PD may…

This study used critical discourse analysis to examine how contingent faculty teaching in online programs talk about the support they need through the lens of organizational socialization theory. We interviewed 10 online contingent faculty across the United States from a variety of Carnegie-classified institutions using semi-structured interview…

Research on liberal arts colleges (LACs) has yet to consider possible effects of using Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) on the character of LACs. LACs are characterized by their strong academic ethos, collegial faculty-student relationships, all at a sanctuary-like setting. Tenure Track Faculty (TTF) and administrators at three LACs were…

In recent years, higher education institutions have faced pressure to prioritize certain disciplines over others. In particular, there have been heightened pressures to emphasize disciplines that are in greater demand by students or perceived by the public as translating directly from degree to career. This report takes a longitudinal approach to…

In this program profile, we recount the development of Fairfield University's award-winning WAC/WID program. We specifically describe the roles of labor and disciplinarity in building "shock-absorbent" WAC program architectures that enable WAC programs to persist. Arguing that labor resources are a central concern of WAC programs, we…

Schools of public policy are explicitly charged with preparing their students to play significant roles in public life. This paper looks at the degree to which policy schools appear to be honoring a commitment to ideological diversity and bridge-building. The authors took a closer look at the ideological composition of the faculty in 10 of the…

There is a need to reevaluate traditional career trajectories within higher education to accommodate the significant presence and important contributions of visitors, instructors, teaching assistants, adjuncts, and lecturers (VITAL) faculty particularly at the mid-career stage. The study, conducted at the University of Denver, where full-time…

Sessional academics undertake a large proportion of teaching and marking and are essential for current university structures and student success. Employment of sessional academics has primarily been driven by cost savings and flexibility in hiring practices for employers, in addition to managing academic staffing shortages. Despite the increase in…

The article interrogates the 'mobility imperative' and its impact on precarious academics. Drawing on 40 biographic interviews with academics with experience of long-term precarity in Irish higher education, and using a Bourdieusian framework, we identify the specific conditions, uses and impacts of international mobility for these workers. This…

Institutions of higher education play a major role in teaching undergraduate students. Historically, most courses have been taught by tenure-track (TT) faculty who may also be responsible for research or scholarly activities. However, a recent shift from "teaching-intensive" TT faculty to "teaching-only" contingent faculty off…

This article explores an important aspect of academic precarity: the use of fixed-term contract researchers as factotums within universities. The practice can be defined as the taking-on of tasks that are outside of core research activities, including substantial amounts of time spent teaching, supervising students and preparing research…

The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success is a national effort to better support the professoriate. In 2018, The Delphi Project launched an award for campuses that had made significant efforts to better support their nontenure-track faculty, including exploring and implementing new faculty models that lead to more secure and…

The tenure evaluation process is characterized by a lack of clarity and governed by unspoken rules. At the same time, while institutions have increased the presence of racially minoritized people among the ranks of faculty over the last 30 years, this growth in numbers has been concentrated among non-tenure track and pre-tenure levels. This study…

In this brief, the authors argue that creating avenues to support VITAL faculty is an essential role for leaders within academic affairs, and particularly those in faculty affairs. While the authors review a host of supports needed, they argue for the importance of sustained professional development opportunities like faculty learning communities…