Part-Time Faculty in Community Colleges. Topical Paper No. 54.

The number of part-time faculty in the community college has dramaticallV increased in recent years. The trend to hire more part-time instructors will likely continue, due to the increasing numbers of part-time students, the movement toward off-campus classes in scattered locations, and the growing numbers of unemployed college graduates with teaching majors. Meanwhile, important issues related to part-time faculty are being debated: pay of part-time instructors, the number of day part-time faculty and their ratio to full-time instructors, their inclusion or exclusion as members of the bargaining unit where collective bargaining exists, and their rights and responsibilities in the department and in the college. The author delineates the different perspectives on these issues held by administrators, and full-time and part-time faculty. The present situation is described in the major sections of the paper: definition, number, sources, qualifications, academic preparation, experience, workload, and wage rates of part-time instructors. He concludes with the implications of these data on the future of community colleges and their staffs. (Author/RL)