Learning Resources

Abstract: This article investigates the status of tenure across various institutional types and estimates the future standing of tenure as a widespread phenomenon in American higher education. The findings of this study concur with the literature in asserting that non-tenure-track and part-time faculty are likely to comprise an increasingly significant portion of the academic faculty in the future. Thus, it is imperative that institutions develop policies and practices that effectively integrate these faculty groups into the organizational culture and maximize their talents while providing a stimulating and meaningful work experience for the part-time or contract employee.

Abstract: Four distinct waves can be discerned in the history of American higher education. The 85 years before the Civil War were characterized by the founding of hundreds of liberal arts colleges. The post–Civil War era saw the majority of these small colleges disappear, replaced by public land-grant schools. Around the turn of the last century, the giants of American industry led the founding of the great private research universities. The term "megaversity" entered the American lexicon after World War II, when thousands of returning GIs swelled the ranks of higher education; the second half of the 20th century also witnessed the proliferation of community colleges. The fifth great wave is now breaking, with for-profit competition and revolutionary teaching technologies among its main characteristics.

Abstract: This article discusses significant changes in a management model within a university with an extensive, distributed campus system and multiple community college partnerships. These changes created stronger linkages between branch campus faculty and their disciplinary counterparts on the main university campus. They were based on a model analogous to a faculty member holding a joint appointment between colleges of a university and include collaborative decision making, hiring decisions, and evaluation by faculty and administrators of the branch and main campuses. Also included in the article is a description of the working relationship between the university and one of its significant community college partners.

Abstract: Any college or university involved in inter-institutional partnerships, especially one involving both two- and four-year institutions, can benefit by exposing faculty members to new ideas, teaching methods, teaching environments, and learning opportunities. Consortia and institutional partnerships can add a valuable dimension to planning for professional development in higher education, especially for rural institutions that are isolated. This article discusses the importance of collaboration in professional development and provides a case study on the development of one such partnership among 13 institutions of higher education in rural North Carolina.