Concerns

As contract non-tenure track faculty (aka CNTT, Lecturers, Visiting Assistant Professors, Visitors, VAPs, or contingent faculty), we face a number of concerns that our tenure-track (TT) peers do not face. Some of these problems are categorized and listed below.

1. Security

• A. Contract durations are set at one year. CNTT faculty need to spend their entire year job hunting just to be safe, though this time often turns out to be wasted as most contracts are renewed twice.
• B. Mandated end to contractual renewal after year three. Even should the CNTT faculty member's department want to retain the Visitor, this is generally not allowed.
• C. Foreclosure of internal promotion pathways. When there are TT openings, there is no opportunity for the department to hire a successful CNTT faculty member, and instead they must conduct a costly and time consuming national search. In addition, this means that there is no opportunity to reward CNTTs’ work in the years prior to the opening.
• D. Existing contractual terms exacerbate visa uncertainties for international scholars. International scholars may need to renew their work visa with every new contract, a process that is becoming increasingly difficult in the current political climate. This process can also be costly for both the Visitor and the college.
• E. Access to housing. Many contingent faculty relocate to Worcester, despite the uncertainty of contract renewal, and must navigate an increasingly competitive and unaffordable housing market without meaningful support from the college.

2. Equity with TT Peers

• A. Pay. CNTT faculty members’ salaries are significantly lower than their TT peers.
• B. Course load. CNTT faculty members are generally given a higher course load than their TT peers.
• C. Discrepancy in teaching assignments. CNTT faculty members are given less or no choice in which courses they are assigned, and are thus often assigned less desirable courses or times.
• D. Discrepancy in research support. CNTT faculty members are given lower levels of support for research than their TT peers, including physical space, funding for equipment and resources, travel funding, and funding for article page charges.

3. Transparency

• A. Lack of transparency in renewal procedures. Because there is no consistent system for renewal of contracts, Visitors are unable to plan for renewal or lack thereof.
• B. No systemic salary scale. Inconsistency in starting salaries depending upon the year of appointment, and no clear system of raises, means that Visitors’ salaries are not consistent with each other, and makes it easy for the school to accidentally violate equal opportunity laws at both the state and federal levels.