Contingent History Faculty Survey

The Coalition on the Academic Workforce invites all members of the contingent academic workforce in U.S. colleges and universities to participate in its contingent faculty survey. The survey inquires about course assignments, salaries, benefits, and general working conditions as members of the contingent academic workforce experience them at the institutional level. We invite participation from all instructional and research staff members employed off the tenure track, including faculty members employed either full- or part-time, graduate students remunerated as teaching assistants or employed in other roles, and researchers and postdoctoral fellows.

Most of the data on the working conditions of the contingent academic workforce–particularly data about salaries, benefits, and course assignments–exist in large data sets that have been aggregated and averaged at the national level. Consequently, the similarities and differences that contingent academic workers experience across different institutions and institutional sectors, geographic regions, and disciplines become obscured. This survey aims to examine salaries, benefits, course assignments, and general working conditions as contingent academic workers experience them at the institutional level. The survey will collect institution- and course-specific information to create a more textured and realistic picture of the contingent academic workforce.

It is our hope that sufficient numbers of respondents will complete the survey in order to develop a rich dataset which will help the Coalition and its member organizations advocate on behalf of professional compensation and working conditions for the contingent academic workforce. To that end, we sincerely appreciate the time and effort given by all who fill out this survey.

Individuals who wish to be entered in a drawing for one of several $50 book gift cards may include contact information at the end of the survey. This information will not be used to connect responses with specific individuals. Winners will be notified in early December.

To complete the survey, please visit the following URL:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VNNNRVS
Respondents are asked to complete the survey by November 30, 2010.

About the Coalition on the Academic Workforce

Organized in 1997, the Coalition on the Academic Workforce is a group of the twenty one higher education associations, disciplinary associations, and faculty organizations listed below who are committed to addressing issues associated with deteriorating working conditions and their effect on college and university students in the United States. For more information about CAW, please visit http://www.academicworkforce.org.

• American Academy of Religion
• American Anthropological Association
• American Association of University Professors
• American Federation of Teachers
• American Historical Association
• American Philological Association
• American Philosophical Association
• American Political Science Association
• American Sociological Association
• American Studies Association
• Association of American Colleges and Universities
• College Art Association
• Community College Humanities Association
• Conference on College Composition and Communication
• Linguistic Society of America
• Modern Language Association
• National Council of Teachers of English
• Organization of American Historians
• Society of Biblical Literature
• Society for Cinema and Media Studies
• Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.