THE (2009) CONTINGENT FACULTY SURVEY: A DISCUSSION OF IMPLICATIONS

Sue Doe, EnglishGinger Guardiola, HistoryNatalie Barnes, ArtKaren Kaminski, School of Education

View survey results and Provost’s Task Force report at http://contingentcaucus.wordpress.com

Introduction/Background Special and Temporary Faculty (STF) as

% of Total Faculty: 32% (484/1517) 57% are women

STF as % of Total Employees at CSU: 8% Tenure-Track Faculty: 17% Administrative Professionals: 22% Research Associates: 15% State Classified Staff: 33% Remainder: Post Docs, Others: 5%

CHANGE OVER DECADE10-Year (2000-2010) Change in % of University

Employees who are Special & Temporary Faculty +225% in CLA +113% in CAS (Ag) +38% in BusinessOVERALL: 83% +35% in CVMBS +19% in CAHS

 

10-Year History of Full-time Students by College, Increases in only 4 colleges while all others show losses. (Note overlap with college increases to STF.)

 

Business: +29% Liberal Arts: +17% CAHS: +6% CNS: +3%

   

% of Undergraduate Credit Hours Taught by Faculty Type:

Tenure-Track: 44% STF: 36% GTAs: 12% Others: 8%

SALARY

*Salary—CLA Only; it varies greatly across campus: Approximately a 35% Wage Gap between Special Appointment (Full-time) and Tenure-Track Entry Level

 Assistant Professor: avg: $55,844

Special Appointment (Full time): avg: $33,000 (Range: $32,000 - $38,000?)

*This is an educated guess and represents CLA only. Tenure-track average faculty salaries are published in the FACT BOOK but STF salaries are not. Wage gaps vary widely from college to college.

Key Findings

Top 5 Job Satisfaction Factors with those being met in red

1. Being fairly treated2. Intellectual stimulation3. Feeling valued as a professional4. Exercise of academic freedom5. Contact with students

Being Fairly Treated

Being Intellectually Stimulated

Feeling Valued as a Professional

Exercising Academic Freedom

Student Contact

Dissatisfactions Feeling valued as a professional Being fairly treated Salary Representation to faculty governance

only 11% of respondents believe they are adequately represented by Faculty Council

50% believe they are welcome at departmental meetings but only 36% believe their opinions matter or that they are included in decision-making

LOYALTY

The clearest, most consistent response to the survey surrounded the level of agreement to the following statement, Q #108:

“I am glad to be a member of the CSU community.”

80% of respondents reported high or very high support of this statement.

Many respondents added in the narrative box: “I just want to be appreciated in return.”

Bi-modal data sets suggest satisfaction in some colleges but not in others Reward and remuneration Promotion and recognition

opportunities Contact with colleagues Access to professional development Invitation and involvement in

departmental activities & governance Rehire/reapplication processes

Focusing On Your College

Materials for your review: Copy of report Survey questions Aggregate data Disaggregated data for your college Session Worksheet

STF satisfaction levels on top five factors for university as a whole

Areas of greatest dissatisfaction Success with reward, recognition, compensation Success with promotion opportunities Success with professional development

opportunities Success with reapplication, reappointment, or

rehire methods Success with collegiality Success with governance opportunities

Question: How does your college compare to the university as a whole in the following areas:

Or Choose Your Own AdventureAll survey analysis that has occurred

so far is very tentative. You are invited to look at other results from this survey, as your needs and interests propel you.

Key Findings From Disaggregated Data

CLA higher level of dissatisfaction overall (all 4 identified areas); highest discrepancy was in salary

In all the indicators of satisfaction, CLA was lower than the university averages with the exception of contact with students

CNS (Natural Sci) biggest difference is on indicator of being valued as a professional (NS did just extremely satisfied)

CNS is higher overall as far as satisfaction in comparison to general university

W-CNR (Natural Res) Satisfaction factors, generally feel these are all important; intellectual stimulation, contact with students and academic freedom are being met.

W-CNR--Data suggest biggest concerns are about how they’re being treated by colleagues

Recommendations/Questions Same survey with tenured faculty Count number of AUCC courses and associated students vs numbers of students

as a whole (particularly important for CLA – i.e. CVMBS students are taking advantage of AUCC in CLA and other colleges. However the contingent faculty issues are not the same because of the make-up of the college and where the $ comes from

More descriptive questions regarding: contact with students; academic freedom Ask question about salary ranges to get more specific information Document how are other schools are dealing with the contingent faculty issues

(i.e. senior lecturer at CU, rolling appointments at U of Wyoming, etc.). [As this was done in 2006, we would only need to update the information.]

Questions with a high percentage of not sure or not applicable should be carefully reviewed – how many respondents really know what’s being asked (i.e. faculty governance) – is this something that could be addressed at a caucus meeting?

Reading group needed to look at the university faculty book, codes, etc. Everyone needs to know these features ofyour position: classification of your

position; appointment type; academic rank; position title What title SHOULD be used when referring to ‘our’ group? Contingent; adjunct;

special; etc. There are different applications depending on the audience (students vs administration)