Unquestionably a major concern of the professoriate, especially at large research universities, is the issue expressed in the article "Growth in Untenured Academic Science Jobs Seen Hurting Careers" (F. Hoke, The Scientist, Sept. 18, 1995, page 1). To that point, a study done by a University of Michigan faculty committee (May 1995) shows all too vividly that this is a very real pattern, not just in the sciences, but university-wide.
Their report, entitled "The Changing Nature of the Professoriate," presented a statistical analysis of changes in instructional faculty appointments from 1982 to 1994. It was demonstrated that, during that time, there was a dramatic rise in lecturer (non-tenure-track) appointments (from about 200 to 520), with a concomitant decline in instructor appointments (155 to 16), the latter decline making the instructor rank almost extinct on campus (that is, 16 of 3,327 total appointments made). Also, the report showed that more...
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