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No, IU is neither firing tenured faculty, nor, unlike Minnesota, is the concept of permanent affiliation under threat. (See Impact column, IU Home Pages, Sept. 13) But surprisingly few of us faculty enjoy the protections tenure gives for expressing independent views.
Last year the Faculty Affairs Committee of the UFC studied instructional appointments at IU, exclusive of AIs. It revealed that of all such appointees, between 30-70 percent, depending on campus, are irregular -- not tenured or tenure-eligible professors. Of course, quite a few lecturers, visitors, adjuncts and assorted part-timers are excellent, even essential, to IU but most have no protection of academic freedom, no economic security, no incentives for good performance, no place in faculty governance, and -- again, with some miraculous exceptions -- no abiding commitment to IU.
Hiring more "gypsy academics" without peer review has been widely criticized. Classroom instructors only, they diminish our research potential and collegiality: just how many part-timers do you know as scholars? Employing teachers nationwide on short-term contracts, furthermore, degrades the job prospects of our own graduate students.
While non-faculty appointees on IU campuses may teach fewer sections than professors, we don't know the exact number. Part-time instructors usually don't stick around after class and office hours to meet with students, nor are they expected to. Doesn't it stand to reason that large numbers of non-faculty instructors could hurt retention?
My suggested approach to this problem is two-fold: offer the best non-tenure-eligible instructors enhanced benefits, peer review and faculty status -- like the clinical ranks. But reduce the numbers of non-tenure eligible faculty hired simply because they are cheap or increase enrollment by teaching at odd hours. Graduate courses should be taught exclusively by faculty, preferably those doing active research in the field.
Sure, it'll cost. But under the Teaching Capacity Model, we faculty have already accepted increased teaching loads to improve quality at IU.
Students have a right to know who's going to teach a course before they sign up. If possible, the bulletin ought to carry the name and rank of the instructor. "Truth in scheduling" would put the onus on the students if they prefer a convenient hour over a professor truly expert in the area.
Perhaps tenured faculty are an endangered species like the pandas: lovable, undoubtedly, but too expensive to feed and house except in private preserves. Or too used to independence and freedom to survive the spread of commerce and a heedless population. There's still time to choose.
Editor's note: Spechler served as co-chair of the Faculty Affairs committee of the University Faculty Council the past two years.
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