What Ever Happened to the Faculty?: Drift and Decision in Higher Education (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: contingent faculty, pedagogical reformers, continuing faculty, New Pathways, New York, University of Phoenix (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Well written... The benefit of the book is its bringing together of key themes in the current debate and providing a spirited discussion." -- Philip G. Altbach, Review of Higher Education

"Burgan has a gift for telling stories and offering reasonable arguments in an engaging, compelling way." -- Gary Rhoades, Thought and Action

"Full of interesting anecdotes and personal experience." -- John E. R. Staddon, Academic Questions

"An important book in understanding how the traditional rights and responsibilities of university faculty have been eroded... Burgan's wide experience makes her particularly effective in developing her argument." -- Susan Gushee O'Malley, Radical Teacher

"Her extensive academic and administrative background informs this insightful examination of the declining faculty influence in campus affairs and, more broadly, higher education." -- W. Bede Mitchell, College and Research Libraries

"Mary Burgan has provided us with a wake-up call about the responsibilities of the professoriate and has given us practical lessons for exercising those responsibilities. We would be wise to heed her advice." -- Academe

"Mary Burgan's fresh look at campus governance provides a ray of hope for the future of the faculty's role in higher education. She draws effectively from her own university experience plus her leadership in the AAUP to show how both old and new customs in academic life can be substantive in the 21st century. This book will help higher education become a brave, new world in the best sense." -- John R. Thelin, author of A History of American Higher Education

Product Description

In this provocative work, Mary Burgan surveys the deterioration of faculty influence in higher education. From campus planning, curriculum, and instructional technology to governance, pedagogy, and academic freedom, she urges far greater consideration for the perspective of the faculty.

Burgan evokes the pervasive atmosphere of charge and counter-charge on U.S. campuses, where competition trumps reason not only in athletics but also in research, faculty recruitment, and fund-raising. Relating this "winner-take-all" mentality to the overspecialization of faculty and to overreliance on non-tenure track instructors, Burgan suggests that improving life on campus depends on faculty members' successful engagement with their administrative colleagues as well as their students.

Informed by experience, fueled by conviction, and full of practical, strategic advice for the future, What Ever Happened to the Faculty? is an excellent resource for administrators and faculty who are eager to change the tone and trajectory of contemporary higher education.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (June 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801892163
• ISBN-13: 978-0801892165
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #709,546 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faculty Are Still There - Just Look Different, December 7, 2006

By	K. C. Huseonica "Karen & Art Huseonica" (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What Ever Happened to the Faculty?: Drift and Decision in Higher Education (Hardcover)

Burgan has provided the reader a comprehensive yet easy-to-read study on the status of higher education faculty. Faculty are still here, we just look different without tenure and are still very passionate about teaching.

Provided is a sobering evaluation of distance education, with strained attempts at being unbiased. Participation in shared governance is also discussed, but the point of involving contingent faculty is lost to the reader. Burgan accurately explains the devaluation of intellectual work as the result of increased administrative and special project assignments.

We've given this work five stars - unusual for this type of work because of Burgan's attempts at being fair yet candid, except when it comes to the topic of the corporatization of higher education.