Spreading resources
Reallocation for part-time faculty planned
By Erin LaMourie
Skiff Staff

Carol Lattimore, a full-time English lecturer, spends significantly more time meeting with students on campus this year then last.

Lattimore was a part-time faculty member last year and has been alternating between teaching full and part time since 1985. She said the biggest difference now is that she is on campus full time and available for her students, making life easier for them.

TCU boasts a 15–to-1 student to faculty ratio in its advertisements, but the ratio of students to full-time professors is about 19-to-1, with 415 full-time professors teaching 8,074 students, according to the office of institutional research.

William Koehler, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said there is no full-time to part-time faculty quotas required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, but having too many part-time faculty takes away from the community and quality of the university.

“When faculty are not physically present, it is much more difficult for students and other faculty to interact with them,” he said. “I think all things considered, a university community should have as many full-time faculty as necessary, and should use part-time faculty to fill the gaps in expertise.”

The percentage of part-time faculty has decreased from 35.5 percent in 1998 to 30.7 percent in 2002, according to institutional research.

The number of full-time and part-time faculty will remain the same next year, Koehler said. Instead of hiring more part-time faculty, the university will reallocate positions, he said, looking at programs with excess faculty and moving those positions to programs with faculty shortages.

The M.J. Neeley School of Business is one of the areas that have excess faculty positions, he said.

Robert Lusch, dean of the business school, said they have six vacant positions, but will only fill two. He said if TCU chooses to reallocate the other four positions to programs that need it more, he will trust Koehler’s decision.

Koehler said TCU’s use of part-time faculty is comparable to other universities.

Southern Methodist University had about a 21-to-1 student to full-time faculty ratio last fall, according to data provided by Pat Hull, an SMU senior research analyst.

TCU is making an effort to decrease the number of part-time faculty, despite any economic benefits they may serve, Koehler said.

“It is much cheaper to hire part-time professors, but (money) is really not the issue,” Koehler said.

“For a few years, we could save a lot of money,” he said. “We are not in the business of saving money.”

Full-time faculty are engaged in the life of the university because it is their only job, Koehler said.

Scott Sullivan, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said he agrees that full-time faculty are necessary. But the experience of part-time faculty is needed within specialized areas like music, where it would be impossible to hire full-time faculty to teach each instrument, Sullivan said .

He said there are currently 28 part-time and 24 full-time faculty in the School of Music. Many of the part-time faculty are involved in the Fort Worth Symphony.

Bill Moncrief, senior associate dean of the business school, said at least 15 percent of business faculty will always be part-time because of the need for experience and specialization. He said they teach primarily undergraduate and UCR classes.

“A lot of our full-time faculty do a lot in business — consult, gather data, or meet one-on-one (with businesses) and stay somewhat current,” he said. “But it’s also good to have people that are out there every day.”

Add Ran College of Humanities and Social Sciences uses part-time faculty mostly in lower-level courses to plug holes in the faculty, said Mike Butler, associate dean of Add Ran.

For example, the English department has 48 faculty members, with seven part-time faculty members and 19 graduate students teaching mostly freshman courses to deal with high enrollment on a temporary basis, he said. The rest of the faculty is either full- time English faculty or part of the TCU Writing Center staff.

Koehler said Add Ran, especially the English department, over the past few years has successfully reduced the number of part-time faculty used.

Some students worry part-time faculty don’t teach as well. Others say courses taught by adjuncts are easily graded.

But Lattimore said those are unfair biases. Koehler said there is no known correlation between part-time faculty and grade inflation.

Part-time faculty at the undergraduate level need to have at least a master’s degree and a minimum of 18 hours of study in the field of expertise to meet SACS requirements, Koehler said. He said TCU also looks for individuals who have teaching experience and are enthusiastic.

Some exceptions are made when individuals have significant experience but no master’s degree. Koehler says there is no quantifiable way to measure expertise, but he looks to see what the professional community thinks of the individual’s work.

Koehler said the experience of a part-time faculty member can add some prestige, but generally a full-time faculty member is more beneficial.

“I would rather have a performance faculty member who is a marvelous and effective teacher and not be recognized as a professional in the performance area,” he said. “I would rather have that person than someone who is a recognized professional and not a good teacher. If you can get both, you are ahead.”