AHA-OAH Departmental Survey on Part-Time/Adjunct Employment

Juli A. Jones

In an effort to map the growing use of part-time and adjunct faculty, the OAH and AHA recently invited department chairs from more than 2,000 two- and four-year history departments to complete an online survey about employment practices at their institutions. So far, 17 percent of departments have responded. The surveys, which will allow us to better understand the part-time/adjunct situation in history departments nationwide, will be posted for review on the OAH web site. The departments that did not respond will be indicated, as will those who meet or surpass our standards. This is only the beginning, however.

We need your help. First, we need your interest. Some tenure-track full-time faculty are slow to recognize the direct impact of this issue on their work. The growing use of part-time/adjunct faculty is directly related to the decline in tenure-track positions. In many institutions, the increasing use of part-time/adjunct faculty results in larger burdens of service for the fewer tenured full-time historians remaining. Furthermore, many graduate students face a future in which temporary adjunct, and part-time, non-tenured appointments will be the norm rather the exception. Our department chairs are struggling, caught between administrative budget imperatives and the best interests of their departments, faculty, and students. There are no easy answers, but OAH and AHA are committed to facing and exploring the issues and options. We need to engage with our colleagues in frank discussions of where we are, what we should do, and what we can do.

Second, we need your participation in the survey. Because the survey should reflect the experiences of the diverse institutions we belong to—research universities, state institutions, colleges, community colleges—many more institutions need to respond. So far, the percentage of research institution respondents is disproportionately small. You can find out if your department has responded by going to the OAH web site at <http://www.oah.org/surveys/>.

Third, you can also participate within your institution by supporting a dialogue on employment issues, rationale for hiring part-time/adjunct faculty, and treatment of faculty based on our standards. Keep yourself informed by attending sessions on employment at the OAH and AHA annual meetings and by reading publications that cover these issues such as the OAH Newsletter, AHA Perspectives, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

While our survey results are still tentative, it is clear that a majority of respondents want ongoing information and a forum for historians to work together on employment issues. We appreciate the support of colleagues throughout the profession at a time of change and challenge. If you have questions or concerns that we may address, please contact me at <jjones@stchas.edu>. We hope that you will join us in Boston for the Part-time Faculty Reception—all are welcome.

Juli A. Jones is Chair of the AHA-OAH Joint Committee on Part-time and Adjunct Employment and Professor of History, St. Charles Community College in St. Charles, Missouri.