How do higher education staffing trends affect students?
The existing trends have led to high turnover in the ranks of higher education workers, especially part-time faculty. That means fewer experienced professors and a disappearing core of trained professionals who are not just experts in their fields, but also experts in teaching. Despite high qualifications and unwavering commitment to their students, most part-time faculty members are paid very low salaries. Many of them must string together classes at various institutions just to make ends meet. That means spending hours as “freeway flyers”, driving from one campus to the next-rather than devoting that time to their primary concern, the educational success of their students. Despite rising tuition costs, every day there are more higher education employees who lack basic professional supports, such as offices and office hours so they can meet with their students. That means students are frequently left without long-term mentoring relationships with these faculty members, and without acc
