More than half of the undergraduate courses at U.S. public colleges and universities are taught by “contingent” faculty and graduate instructors, rather than by full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty, resulting in an unstable and financially exploited workforce, according to a new AFT report.

The report, “Reversing Course: The Troubled State of Academic Staffing and a Path Forward,” also includes a novel formula to track staffing and wage trends and correct inequities. The report was prepared for the AFT by the research firm JBL Associates.

“Contingent faculty members must be better compensated and treated as full professionals on their campuses,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Disinvesting in faculty is not only unfair to the contingent faculty, but also shortchanges students who may not have their professors as available as they would otherwise be.”

Read more online at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/gp1cCwF1Nu-6/.