Survey of Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Responses from Instructors, Agriculture Extension Faculty, Clinical Faculty, and Research Faculty

Overall

The Non-Tenure Track Faculty Survey was sent to 774 possible respondents; 274 recipients responded to the survey and another 9 responded to the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Committee Chair directly to say that the survey did not relate to their position. The overall response rate for the survey was 36.6%

The number of respondents by job title:

Instructors 120

Agriculture Extension 76

Clinical Faculty 38

Research Faculty 22

______________________________

Total 256

Other 27 Did not classify themselves according to the four job titles

______________________________

Total respondents 283

Items on Survey

The Survey contained 6 items. Some were descriptive; others assessed satisfaction and allowed respondents to provide open-ended comments.

The descriptive items were:

Identify your Department and give your name. (This item was optional and is not reported.)
Identify your rank
Identify your duties
Identify any support you are eligible for

These items were taken from “Statement on Non-Tenure Track Faculty Members” published by the Modern Language Association and from the career-ladders describing the duties and ranks of Non-Tenure Track Clinical and Research Faculty.

The items intended to assess satisfaction were:

Three items with Likert scale satisfaction rankings

(1-4 rankings, with 4 as highest and 1 as lowest)

Your job duties are clearly defined
Your job performance is evaluated appropriately
If you have a career ladder, policies in your career ladder are relevant for your job

An open-ended item asking about any concerns the respondent had about his or her position

These items were suggested by emails received from Non-Tenure Track Faculty members during Fall Semester 2005.

Responses for Satisfaction Items

A complete report of the responses to the Survey is available on the University Senate website at:

https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/au_senate.html

Here are the responses to the satisfaction items arranged by job title of the respondents:

Instructor Responses

4 very satisfied

1 not satisfied

Your job duties are clearly defined (n=102)

64.7%

(66)

27.5%

(28)

4.9%

(5)

2.9%

(3)

Your job performance is evaluated appropriately (n=95)

37.9%

(36)

37.9%

(36)

13.7%

(13)

10.5%

(10)

If you have a career ladder, policies in your career ladder are relevant for your job (n=36)

22.2%

(8)

11.1%

(4)

30.6%

(11)

36.1%

(13)

Agriculture Extension Faculty Responses

4 very satisfied

1 not satisfied

Your job duties are clearly defined (n=66)

30.3%

(20)

45.5%

(30)

21.2%

(14)

3.0%

(2)

Your job performance is evaluated appropriately (n=64)

26.6%

(17)

39.1%

(25)

23.4%

(15)

10.9%

(7)

If you have a career ladder, policies in your career ladder are relevant for your job

(n=53)

15.1%

(8)

45.3%

(24)

26.4%

(14)

13.2%

(7)

Clinical Faculty Responses

4 very satisfied

1 not satisfied

Your job duties are clearly defined (n=29)

31.0%

(9)

41.3%

(12)

20.7%

(6)

6.9%

(2)

Your job performance is evaluated appropriately (n=33)

27.2%

(9)

45.4%

(15)

18.1%

(6)

9.1%

(3)

If you have a career ladder, policies in your career ladder are relevant for your job (n=26)

15.4%

(4)

42.3%

(11)

26.9%

(7)

15.4%

(4)

Research Faculty Responses

4 very satisfied

1 not satisfied

Your job duties are clearly defined (n=20))

40.0%

(8)

25.0%

(5)

25.0%

(5)

10.0%

(2)

Your job performance is evaluated appropriately (n=15)

33.3%

(5)

33.3%

(5)

20.0%

(3)

13.3%

(2)

If you have a career ladder, policies in your career ladder are relevant for your job (n=10)

30.0%

(3)

10.0%

(1)

50.0%

(5)

10.0%

(1)

Selected Responses to Open-Ended Item: Please describe any concerns you have about your Non-Tenure Track Faculty position.

Shared Concerns

A number of Non-Tenure Track Faculty members expressed high levels of satisfaction with their jobs and with their supervisors.
Many Non-Tenure Track Faculty members are concerned about the lack of respect they receive from Tenure-Track Faculty members.
Some Non-Tenure Track Faculty members do not know what types of University and Departmental support they are eligible to receive.
Some Non-Tenure Track Faculty members are concerned that they are not eligible to serve on Departmental committees or participate in other ways in the Departments where they are employed.

Instructor Concerns

Performing tasks that are the responsibility of Tenure-Track Faculty
Raises contingent on student evaluations
Lack of tuition breaks for family and self
Not eligible for all teaching grants

Agriculture Extension Faculty Concerns

Fear of losing Non-Tenure Track Faculty status
No consideration to bring ACES Non-Tenure Track Faculty up to regional salary average

Clinical Faculty Concerns

Doubtful about promotion opportunities because Promotion and Tenure Committee does not understand the Clinical Faculty career ladder
Differences in responsibilities for Tenure-Track and Non-Tenure Track Faculty not clear
Being off-campus leads to a disconnection with colleagues

Research Faculty Concerns

Overwork teaching and doing research for Tenure-Track Faculty
Too many different bosses

Recommendations from the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Committee Based on the Survey

Allow Non-Tenure Track Faculty members employed in ACES to retain their faculty status. Wait until after the faculty currently holding the positions retire before reclassifying the positions.
Insure that members of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee understand the requirements for promotion of Clinical and Research Non-Tenure Track Faculty and that University policies are upheld.
Acknowledge the important role that Non-Tenure Track Faculty members play in instruction, research, and outreach.
Insure that Non-Tenure Track Faculty members are aware of the Departmental and University support they are eligible for.
Insure that all faculty members are aware of their job titles and their status as non-tenure track or tenure-track.
Establish a revision cycle for career ladders so that they can be reviewed frequently by faculty and administrators.
Insure that Departments follow the descriptions in the career ladders when assigning duties to Non-Tenure Track Faculty members.
Include career ladders in Chapter 4 of the Faculty Handbook. Chapter 4 appears to have been written before the career ladders were approved and, therefore, needs extensive revision.