New study favors fixed-term faculty

According to a recent study by Northwestern University, non-tenured faculty members might be better teachers than professors with tenure.

The study, which was released Monday, found that non-tenured faculty at Northwestern significantly outperformed tenured faculty in introductory undergraduate courses. It showed that fixed-term faculty motivate students to take further courses in their subject and also have students perform better on course work than their tenured counterparts.

Fixed-term faculty members sign one- to five-year contracts with the University, while tenured faculty have permanent positions.

Jean DeSaix, a fixed-term faculty member in the biology department, said she wasn’t surprised by the study’s findings.

“I suspect fixed-term faculty devote more time and energy tending to the classroom atmosphere,” DeSaix said. “But this doesn’t mean that tenured faculty don’t spend time on their classes.”

She said while fixed-term faculty might be more focused on their classrooms, tenured professors also play an important role in student success.

“It’s a handoff,” DeSaix said. “A lot of times, (fixed-term faculty are) the opening act. But what everyone is there for is the band. The band is the research arena.”

But Executive Vice Provost and Chief International Officer Ron Strauss said the findings do not necessarily translate to UNC.

“I wouldn’t necessarily assume the findings at Northwestern are what you would find here,” Strauss said.

UNC fixed-term faculty members represented 45 percent of all faculty members in 2011. Tenured professors made up 41 percent, and tenure-track faculty — professors who are pursuing tenure — made up 13 percent.

In recent years, the number of fixed-term faculty members have increased significantly at UNC, mostly in the school’s five health affairs schools.

Between 2000 and 2011, the number increased from less than 800 to more than 1,600 at UNC, while tenured and tenure-track faculty have only marginally grown.

Strauss said part of the increase has come from a desire for flexibility in the school’s makeup of faculty and budgetary uncertainty.

Adam Persky, the current chairman of UNC’s Fixed-Term Faculty Committee, echoed DeSaix’s sentiment about the study.

“I’m not surprised,” Persky said. “If you look at general faculty appointments, fixed-term faculty typically have two roles: either research only or teaching only. So it makes sense that the ones teaching would have the largest investment in their classroom.”

Persky said that unlike fixed-term faculty, tenured professors typically are not solely focused on teaching.

“Tenured faculty, depending on their appointment, tend to be more research-focused and not as knowing of the literature in education improvement,” he said.

Persky and a team of about 14 other faculty members were part of the Faculty Learning Community on Strategy and Leadership, which was primarily made up of fixed-term faculty and focuses on improving the learning experience in large introductory courses. These members still meet regularly even though the official program ended in December 2012.

“We look at how to manage active learning and how to keep people engaged in a 400-person class,” Persky said.

Persky said the group and fixed-term faculty as a whole can benefit the University.

“I think fixed-term faculty are in a great place to do research and improve learning and to improve classroom conditions,” he said. “It’s a way to pioneer.”

university@dailytarheel.com