Bob Hohn wants his colleagues to spend more time on campus.

He’s concerned about the boom in part-time faculty Kansas University has hired in the past 10 years, at the same time the number of full-time faculty numbers has dwindled.

The shift is in line with a national trend that is making full-time tenure-track professors an endangered species on some university campuses.

The reason: Money. As universities drift away from the traditional model of the full-time professor, a less expensive alternative is taking its place — part-timers who often teach at several institutions.

“It’s a continuity and commitment issue,” said Hohn, a professor of psychology and research in education. “If we don’t have very many people on tenure track, we’ll have people come and go. Basic things faculty members do — teach and research — will be sporadic in terms of their effect.”

The number of part-time faculty KU employs has nearly doubled in the past 10 years. In 1992, the university had 199 part-timers. By fall 2002, it had increased to 388.

During the same time, the number of tenure-track faculty decreased from 1,081 to 1,052.

David Shulenburger, provost and executive vice chancellor, said the numbers were a result of increases in enrollment in specific areas.

“There’s no money to hire full-time faculty, so we have to fill in with instructors and lecturers,” he said. “You’d love to keep the ratio of full-time to part-time constant, but we just don’t have the resources to do it.”

It’s the same story at universities across the country. One study showed that in 2001, 55 percent of university professors were full-time, down from 67 percent in 1987.

“It’s definitely been a trend, probably for the last 30 years, and we’re hoping that we can begin to make it even more clear that we’re at the point of endangering the quality of higher education,” said John Curtis, director of research for the American Association of University Professors in Washington, D.C.

Potential problems

The concern, he said, is that part-time professors spend nearly all their time teaching and little time doing research.

It’s a concern shared by Shulenburger.

“The more and more we hire part-time people, we’re moving away from our research mission and moving toward an Emporia State mission,” he said, referring to the state teacher college. “Our job isn’t to teach. It’s to teach and do research.”

For students, with nearly half their professors working part time, the chances of getting to know them are slim. Particularly in introductory classes, it is increasingly common for students to be taught by nonpermanent faculty.

Some say the shift is taking its toll.

Do you think Kansas University is relying too much on part-time faculty? Yes. Fewer full-time professors will hurt KU’s ability to produce research. Yes. It makes it difficult for students to get to know their professors. No. The part-time faculty members provide students with a fresh mix of ideas and perspectives. No. The university is evolving over time and this is just one aspect of it. Undecided. ¢See the results »Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

Some students complain they receive less of the mentoring and personal interaction they hoped would help them deal with future graduate studies or the competitive business world. Newer academics see a compromised job market in which many who would prefer to work full time end up traveling from campus to campus to put together a decent salary.

But Shulenburger says there is one statistic he’s optimistic about when it comes to the part-time/full-time ratio. The percentage of KU classes taught by full-time faculty is down only eight-tenths of 1 percent since 1996, to 62 percent.

Part-time professors taught 24.2 percent of all courses in 2002, up from 15.5 percent in 1996.

The difference is that graduate teaching assistants are teaching fewer courses. Teaching assistants accounted for 13.8 percent of courses taught in 2002, down from 21.5 percent in 1996.

Proposed cap

And Shulenburger is expecting the numbers to get better in the next few years. As part of their plan to increase tuition for five years beginning in 2002, administrators plan to hire 100 additional full-time faculty members.

But few believe most universities will return to past levels of full-time staffing.

“What’s interesting is that (use of part-time faculty) has leveled off,” said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C.

But as for the likelihood of a return to full-time staffing levels of the past, he says, “I doubt [it], given the finances of colleges and universities.”

Hohn, the KU professor, is on a university governance committee that is examining the part-time professor issue. He’d like KU to cap the percent of faculty that can be part-time to around 20 percent. Currently, it’s nearly 27 percent.

“Otherwise, what it means is people just show up to teach their class — like 10 to 11 Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” Hohn said. “Students are short-changed, because faculty are not there.”

— Journal-World wire services contributed to this story.