The faculty at NEIU, as at most universities in this nation, is divided into two separate classes. Tenured and tenure-track professors are full-time employees eligible for full benefits. The remaining faculty, contracted on a short-term basis, fall under the category of instructors.
As of fall 2006, there were 284 tenure-track faculty and 438 instructors at NEIU, according to data provided by Provost Lawrence Frank.
With just over 60% of the faculty classified as instructors, 39% of those teaching part-time, NEIU’s faculty reflects a national trend that shows a sharp increase in the number of instructors at American universities and colleges.
Part-time instructors have seen the most growth of all teaching professionals nationwide. According to a report released by the U.S. Department of Education, in 1987 there were 270,000 part-time university instructors nationwide. In 2003, there were slightly over double that amount, at 543,000.
In recent interviews, both President Sharon Hahs and Frank addressed the importance of maintaining a “good balance” of tenure-track and instructors.
“In an ideal world we don’t want too many part-time faculty who have multiple commitments and maybe are not going to be able to devote as much to our students as we wish,” said President Hahs.
According to Frank, NEIU could be overstepping the boundaries of having too many instructors. “I think we’ve reached a plateau and I wouldn’t want to see us go any further in the proportion of faculty that [is] instructors.”
Along with their concerns with the university’s amount of instructors on faculty, both have expressed the necessity for instructors at NEIU.
According to Frank, while some instructors may lack the academic qualifications tenure-track faculty may have, many teach classes that are aligned with their professional fields of interest. It is in this capacity that instructors’ best serve NEIU, said Frank.
President Hahs agrees, “On the other side of that same issue is the expert we couldn’t have unless they were adjunct [instructors].”
Instructors, both full-time and part-time, receive far less pay than tenure-track professors. In some departments, the salary gap between the highest paid professor and the lowest paid full-time instructor is anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000, according to the university budget.
Instructors that are eligible to be part of the faculty union, University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), receive a 3.5 % annual raise. Even with the built-in increase, many full-time instructors are still considerably underpaid in comparison with their tenured counterparts.
Many instructors teach several classes at different universities and colleges in order to make the equivalent of a full-time professor’s salary, and this juggling of schools is no guarantee of making the equivalent of a tenured professor’s pay.
Frank said the salary gap is a problem and admits that while NEIU has a respectable salary structure for tenured/tenure-track faculty, the university has underpaid instructors in the past.
“I do think that there is probably too big a gap between instructors on the one hand and Tenure-line faculty on the other?. Where we have a problem, I would say, is with the instructors, Northeastern has a history of not paying instructors competitively.”
He was also careful to point out improvements in instructors’ salary, due to contract negotiations between the UPI and the university, after a faculty strike in Nov. 2004.
“Although the instructors aren’t paid what they should be there was a considerable improvement in the last contract and we’ll see what happens with the next contract.”
UPI officials were unavailable for comment.
Something that is seen as a major issue through all levels of faculty and administration is NEIU’s lack of funding from the state.
According to Frank, the problem is not deciding on what resources the money should be spent, but rather how much money the university receives from the state.
“Where is the money coming from? We know we need more offices and we know we need more [?resources], but what are we going to use for money to pay them more, and to build more buildings?”
President Hahs addressed her plans to lobby Springfield for more funding in a recent interview with the Independent.
“This is the legislative session right now. I’ve been in Springfield twice already, and I will be in Springfield as many times as appropriate for me.”
With so many part-time instructors on faculty, the university often struggles to supply the sufficient amount of resources required. Part-time instructors often are affected the most from lack of available resources. Departments usually must schedule office hours for several different instructors assigned to one office.
Dr. Richard Rutschman, Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences says sharing available resources is something each department does their best to manage. “We try to schedule the use of instructors’ offices in such a way that they don’t overlap. Generally each office is assigned to no more than two instructors,” said Rutschman.
Yet he admits certain circumstances may dictate how many instructors will share an office. “Obviously, how many instructors are assigned to one office depends on how many courses each one teaches, and how many hours they need to be on campus.”