Quality teaching is the number one point in this first case. Teachers, due to lack of financial and extra resources of their schools, are compromised in terms of their quality teaching time and the related functions associated to teaching (advising, checking of research reports, etc.). They also move from one department to another, shifting the required teaching and administrative duties expected from them. They are expected to be “jacks of all trades” inside the schools. They have no relievers. However, their dedication does not actually guarantee their additional incentives or any other forms of motivation. This is why there is an increased attrition.
Another symptom of this administrative burden is the faculty shortages. Sometimes, due to the lack of funds, the teachers take turns in acting as department chair. Also, they have difficulty in advising many students as there are no extra advisors in their learning institutions. Older faculty members want to retire but worry about the problems in teaching positions. Hence, they stayed on. However, the quality of instructions is also compromised since they are often overworked and burnt out.
Time management is very crucial in this administrative problem.
Changes in the structures and general environment are the required impetus for academic achievement. (Mac Iver, et. al., 2001) There are various structural reforms such as looping, semi-departmentalization, group teaching, etc. which may be implemented to bridge the gap in the lack of teachers and advisors. These reforms have been discovered to enhance the well being of the young students. (Mac Iver, et. al., 2001) They also increase the students’ perception of their teachers’ love and care for them, their dedication to their own learning, and increased cooperation in various classroom activities and strengthened relationships with their teachers. However, this has an impact in the school organization and in academic curriculum, teaching and teacher development/training. Ultimately, the teachers will be the one to "transfer a certain group of popular and vital knowledge to all the young students in such ways which will promote mental curiosity, critical thinking and problem solving." (Jackson & Davis, 2000) Hence, their quality teaching time is crucial. Also, their extra time is very significant.
According to the “Turning Points: Transforming Middle Schools, A Design Overview” (2000), there must be a “systematic ecology of learning in order to establish an environment of mental development and a supportive community of committed educational objectives.” In real academic world context, these principles can be translated as ensuring excellent teachers who are adept in teaching and managing students. These teachers must be especially recognized for their achievement and their dedication. In practical terms, they must also be given extra incentives for their hard work, within and outside their proper functions.
Similar conflicts exist in college faculty. In the interview of three college presidents with regards to faculty work conflict, they have highlighted various important suggestions in confronting this problem. The first college president interviewed mentioned that in their teacher survey three years past, teachers are discouraged by extra faculty work. The college did not recruit more faculty members but they compensate them with more classes and reduced full time faculty work. This plan worked well because the college has many adjunct faculties. Hence, providing each an extra course saved time for full-time faculty, so they could focus on scholarly work and supervise research projects.
The next college president admitted that they have not encountered faculty work related problems as this. As a proposal, he suggested college presidents to be more transparent by letting faculty know they are aware of the problem and recognize that recruiting efforts have been unsuccessful. By asking faculty to be partners in the solution, they may be willing to help the college address the problem instead of leaving for another institution.
The last interviewed college president believes that educational management must be likened to that of running a business. Hence, faculty members who want to teach more classes should be compensated for their efforts. Adjuncts who want to take on more responsibilities should be screened, regarding competencies. They can also be contracted to pick up additional projects.
Bell, et. al. (2007) shared specific recommendations. According to them, the consideration of the teacher’s faculty load and inequities must be taken in a more general context of other faculty activities and endeavors. Faculty teaching loads should be well taken with their teaching activities such as advising, scholarship, and extra institutional service. Their current teaching loads and inequities directly affect their advising loads and inequities. (Burk, et. al., 2007) These must also be weighed according to the context of the school’s image and mission. The number one recommendation is to keep college class sizes as small as practicable. There must be a small student to faculty ratio, in general.
For full time faculty members:
There must be no scholarship requirements in terms of productivity.
They should be required to update their knowledge and methods in their discipline.
They must be given no more than 15 credit hours per full semester
Teaching during summer should not be compulsory. It must be voluntary and there must be additional compensation for this extra work.
Teachers may serve on departmental positions where required.
They must hold standards of collegiality that other teachers share.
The administrative load assigned to teachers must be equivalent to those of regular or full pledged faculty members.
For Adjunct Faculty Members:
Their load requirements must be the same as tenured faculty.
Problems on the full time responsibilities of tenured faculty also abound. In the interview of three department chairs with regards to faculty work that they must complete and those which they can relegate to other faculty members, they have highlighted various important suggestions in solving this problem.
The first department chair indicated that the three components of faculty responsibility are teaching, scholarship, and service. One approach the college could take is to partner with university doctoral programs to hire teaching or research assistants to help faculty in grading, preparation, and research. He said that the university would benefit from increased opportunities for doctoral students while the college would benefit from the increased labor. The college could also utilize its hiring budget to hire more assistants or external faculty. Some doctoral students may apply for full-time position as they work on their dissertations.
The second department chair suggested the college could delegate tasks to administrative assistants and work-study students. The third department chair mentioned that the only way to reduce current faculty is to recruit new faculty. According to him, other solutions might work in the short term but recruiting a new faculty is the ultimate solution. Hence, he stressed that the school must figure out how to make the position more attractive to potential recruits and engage current faculty in recruitment efforts.
Specific recommendation is to improve faculty incentive and evaluation systems. Adjunct faculty members are usually paid on a per course basis. Some other salary bases can be used such as the salary based on a per student basis for teaching practicum supervisors. (Kato, 2011) The salary range is expansive, with reference to market factors that exits in each field or department. Salaries for teachers where there is a greater supply of qualified teachers is relatively low while salaries for teachers where there is a comparatively higher technical skills requirement or where a program must be filled with an expert from the private institutions.
The teaching, scholarship and service roles of teachers theoretically and practically overlap. Hence, the various forms of faculty work should be validated and conceptually unified. The schools may apply a Tuition Waiver Program. This means that a part time faculty can, after working for a specific number of days, be eligible to apply for a tuition waiver if a position is available in a specific course. This waiver may be transferred by the part time faculty to another employee, spouse, or dependent. There can also be a Professional Development Funds. Community colleges often have this. It refers to a distinct fund to pay for professional development opportunities for part-time faculty members. (Kato, 2011)
References:
Bell, Joe., et. al. (2007). Faculty Workload Task Force: Recommendations. Retrieved on July 2, 2012 from, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:0RgaxmbQ5W0J:www.acu.edu/academics/provost/documents/Final_Workload_Recom.doc+specific+recommendations+for+faculty+loading&hl=fil&gl=ph&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShiy1bL1PyfwChPfjmzVl4DdfJ_5a_EkxAGV4mw-R6C5ZFAfk_-mOYXlJRd8gwNZijRwhbcFJ9AOBQkrnAZQ_9EfPAeuowTDhadfq0jzOrCHFwJqExzDJL3fuT_D2VtGL_knEoD&sig=AHIEtbTnpxNfA1XtQV5JGqKgoJMq95HW_A.
Burk, T., et. al. (2007). Report and Recommendations of the Internal Teaching Load Equity Task Force. Retrieved on July 2, 2012 from, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:77e8iO2MTCMJ:puffin.creighton.edu/A%26Sfacultysenate/Archive/0711/ITLETFReport.doc+specific+recommendations+for+faculty+loading&hl=fil&gl=ph&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjzD8YP2QRe2qieQtU41MmSxYrZmfOVw_jSb2lUaFiLTr5j7kZ7gej25L6bHGJDVlD0RbUuIfCdtb8_JC7euWaVHfPUtEE0v5QPVgzQSTqJw2lHhAlbNgx5NWJ8u4raGZhG-2Sy&sig=AHIEtbSZa41j3iBbkqZBfH40qWf4AO-Cqw.
Jackson, Anthony W. & Davis, Gayle A. (2000). Turning Points 2000 Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century. Boston: Teachers College Press.
Kato, Ailey. (2011). Part-Time Faculty at Colleges and Universities. Senate Committee Services Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee. Retrieve don July 2, 2012 from, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:X6G6YQi6F30J:www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/HEWD/Documents/PartTimeFacultyRpt.pdf+recommendations+for+the+responsibilities+of+a+full+time+faculty+as+compared+to+those+of+part+time+faculty+memebrs&hl=fil&gl=ph&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESioAk9wqwMpYCRfpZOCR8pD47ftSEpWZLhZBI2YualDjHhYLQlEYnmaDwi_1lq9truG9kcpSQaBAwRTDvsdzkJMUKysa2eR0ATqg-19xTdSiYqhYoo203kAV4T4S4bsece-Q2k0&sig=AHIEtbSbFp5VQPKtOYMVBdUmKUsoos7rHg.
Mac Iver, Douglas, J., Young, Estelle, Balfanz, Robert, Shaw, Alta, Garriott, Maria, and Cohen, Amy. (2001). High-Quality Learning Opportunities in High Poverty Middle Schools: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality. In Reinventing the Middle School, ed. Thomas S. Dickinson. New York: Routledge Falmer.
