A Path to Promotion and Reward Structures for Full-Time, Non-Tenure Track Faculty: One University’s Process for the Teacher-Scholar Model Linda J. Schoenstedt Christina Davlin-Pater
Xavier University Journal of Higher Education Management, 35(2), 19-27 (ISSN 2640-7515). © Copyright 2020 by American Association of University Administrators. Permission to reprint for academic/scholarly purposes is unrestricted provided this statement appears on all duplicated copies. All other rights reserved.
In the spring of 2014, Xavier University’s Provost/Chief Academic Officer in recognition of the changes in various faculty roles, charged the Chair of Faculty Committee (equivalent to a Faculty Senate) and Faculty Assembly (all full-time faculty with eligibility to vote in a shared governance model) to examine the domain of work of all full-time faculty in light of teaching, research, service, student learning, shared governance, University needs, and the like. This was not necessarily about creating an updated job description. It was about creating a supportive environment for all faculty so that they would be more fulfilled in their careers and could provide better service and support to their constituents. An Ad Hoc Task Force was formed of current faculty of every designation except adjuncts and became known as the Next Gen Teacher Scholar Task Force. Early in the process it became apparent that the task force would be split to create one group that would work on the issues affecting the fulltime, non-tenure track factulty (NTTF), and another group that would work on the needs of tenured and tenure-track faculty (TTF). This paper will only highlight the work of the group that focused on the NTTF. Work began over the summer of 2014 and culminated in the Xavier Board of Trustees passing a proposal in May, 2017. The leaders of the task force chose an auto-ethnography methodology that was used to reflect critically on the experience. In order to conduct this process, the authors referred to notes from Task Force meetings, reflected on discussions with stakeholders, and reviewed correspondence and documents (e.g. emails and numerous proposal drafts), over the 3-year span of the project and the year following implementation. Throughout this process, both expected and unexpected challenges were encountered. It is hoped that Xavier’s process and experience will be helpful to others who may also be seeking to improve the work conditions and culture of their NTTF. Background Xavier University is a private institution founded in 1831. According to the Carnegie Classifications website, Xavier has a total combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of 6,508. It is an urban campus with 175 acres in Cincinnati, Ohio and utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Xavier University, a Jesuit college located in Cincinnati, is among the oldest Catholic universities in the country. In 2015 and 2016, after an Ad Hoc Committee called the Next Gen Task Force was created, there were approximately 238 tenure-track, full time faculty or Principal Faculty and 96 non-tenuretrack, fulltime faculty (NTTF) that provide a curriculum of 90 majors (Table 1).
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