The American Association of University Professors introduceda new draft policy on the treatment of adjunct faculty members early this week, citing a lack of "conversions" of adjunct professors to tenure-track positions, Inside Higher Ed reported on Wednesday. The AAUP argues that colleges and universities often offer adjunct faculty members "limited conceptions of academic citizenship and service, few protections for academic freedom, little opportunity for professional growth and no professional peer scrutiny in hiring, evaluation and promotion," according to the draft. The draft reflects the AAUP's desire to improve the status of adjunct professors, according to Inside Higher Ed. Critics argue that research universities must promote scholars with published research to tenure-track positions, rather than adjunct professors who spend most of their time teaching, Inside Higher Ed reported.
Fewer than half of all students who major in science and engineering take jobs in those fields after graduation, according to a recent study by Harold Salzman, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University, and B. Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies for Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration. The study, based on data compiled by the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor over the past 30 years, found that the percentage of graduates who go into the fields of science and engineering has dropped in recent years, suggesting that the problem is not a shortage of graduates in this field but rather their decision to pursue other employment. Critics, however, contend that the inclusion of life sciences students in the data may cover up shortages of engineering graduates, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Wednesday.
Yale University's faculty searches and hiring processes will be subject to heightened scrutiny due to a series of dramatic budget cuts, which had previously spared academics, the Yale Daily News reported on Wednesday. While some departments will continue expanding, their rate of growth will be significantly lower than in previous years, according to the Daily News. Departments like Italian, neurobiology and near eastern languages and civilizations will be forced to work with internal vacancies, and in some cases will have to function with new vacancies in positions that have been occupied for decades, according to the Daily News.
