Abstract: Educational Research Information Center (ERIC) Trends are analyses of higher education literature contained in the ERIC database, describing major concerns in institutional practice. There has been little real change in the literature on faculty in the last 5 years. Workload for faculty remains higher than many professions, and faculty often experience acute conflict as a result of the various roles they must assume. Advocates for new approaches continue to propose new visions. Some newer trends in the literature that higher educators need to be aware of include: (1) the new faculty: older, not more ethnically diverse; (2) internationalized faculty; (3) growth of part-time/contractual faculty; (4) new definitions of research: technology, application, and revenue generation; (5) fall of tenure and rise of productivity/workload; (6) collective bargaining; (7) rewarding service and the scholarship of teaching; (8) aligning priorities/rewards and mission; and (9) restructuring doctoral programs. Every aspect of the faculty role is being reconceptualized. Workload, attacks of tenure, changing roles, and lack of diversity among faculty have been themes throughout the 1990s. The restructuring of doctoral programs, the scholarship of teaching, and the rewarding of service show promise for assisting in this time of transition. However, the rise in part-time and contract faculty, the growing antagonism represented in the growth of collective bargaining, and the lack of diversification of faculty represent serious looming problems. These interrelated issues need to be examined together, as they typically are engaged. (Contains 22 references.) (EMS)
Notes: For related documents, see HE 033 500-506.
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