Education Commons^™

Part-Time Faculty: Semantics And The Meaning Of Contingent Teaching, Margaret E. Winters

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The variety of titles for non-tenure-track, part-time, contingent faculty and their semantic meanings are explored. The terms are not random when looked at collectively, but rather form a pattern which is indicative of contemporary post-secondary academic employment and culture. More specifically, these titles reflect several characteristics of the faculty who bear them: among others, the fact that they are not in full-time employment, the fact that their contracts are for shorter periods of time than those of tenure-track faculty, and the fact that their contracts reflect an expectation of impermanence in employment. Also expressed in the titles are more nuanced …