Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Campus Faculty FTEs: # SCHs: # Campus Lecturer % Lecturer % Type of all of all AA TT 2,712 268k Faculty Faculty 2010-11 (52%) (54%) (1995-96) (2010-11) Lec 579 138k (14%) (28%) Ann Arbor 17% 24% GSI 810 84k (20%) (17%) Dearborn 30% 53% Dearborn TT 262 100k 2011-12 (63%) (52%) Lec 155 91k Flint 36% 62% (37%) (48%) Flint TT 187 82k 2011-12 (53%) (43%) Lec 169 109k (47%) (57%) Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
NTT teaching faculty – called “Lecturers” at UM – experience five types of inequality vis-à-vis TT faculty: Status & respect Rights (e.g., right to vote, and more broadly, decision- making power in Depts and Schools) Job security Benefits (incl. sabbatical) Pay Focus of this report is pay inequality, but will consider how related to other inequalities at end Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Better to compare pay for TT and NTT teaching rather than pay overall Best to compare “per course” pay rates But UM does not pay TT faculty (or most NTT faculty) a “per course” rate To calculate pay per course, need answers to two questions: What share of work time do TT faculty spend teaching? 1. 49% in AA (survey); 60% in Flt & Dbn (estimate) What is dollar value of hour of TT faculty time spent on 2. teaching vs. other responsibilities? 1:1 (argument) Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
1. UM does not calculate dollar value of an individual course, so comparison of pay/course is not possible 2. TT faculty are inferior teachers 3. Research more valuable than teaching 4. UM can’t afford to do the right thing Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Really? Lots of universities do, including Michigan State. If we are committed to the principle of equal pay for equal work, we need to calculate value of a course, so that we can compare and assess. Injustice does not cease to exist just because we refuse to measure it! Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
The “equal work” component of the EPEW principle assumes quality of teaching is equal. But is it? Three types of answer: Argument from authority: Max A priori arguments Teaching methods and learning outcomes Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
“One can be a prominent scholar and at the same time be an abominably bad teacher…. [T]o present scientific problems in such a manner that the untutored but receptive mind can understand them and – what is for us decisive – can come to think about them independently is perhaps the most difficult pedagogical task of all…. [T]his very art is a personal gift and by no means coincides with the scientific qualifications of the scholar.” -- Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation” [1922] Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Favoring TT faculty: Active research agenda contributes to engaged and relevant teaching Higher degree (PhD) contributes to teaching quality via higher level of intellectual training / development National search processes yield more talented scholars Favoring NTT faculty: Greater # of courses taught x more time spent per course => greater development of craft skills of teaching NTT faculty are rewarded solely for teaching performance and incentives matter Specialization generally results in superior performance and neither teaching nor research is an exception to this rule Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
All the a priori arguments have prima facie plausibility, but they point in opposite directions => which vector is dominant? An empirical Q. How do we answer it? Student perceptions and understandings: Student evaluation scores Student assessment of best course taken at UM – we then find out if taught by TT or NTT faculty How students who understand the diff btn NTT and TT faculty assess impact of faculty type on quality Objective measures: Teaching and evaluation methods employed by faculty Student retention and graduation rates Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Table One: Student Evaluation Scores by Faculty Type, UM-AA, 1988-89 to 2000-01. “Overall, the instructor was an excellent teacher” 5= strongly agree; 1 = strongly disagree Source: from Cross & Goldenberg, Off-Track Profs (2009), p. 124. Division Level Department Tenure-track Lecturers Lower-division scores Chemistry 3.63 4.06 Economics 3.82 4.41 English 4.30 4.63 Philosophy 4.08 * Physics 4.13 4.31 Psychology 4.46 * Upper-division scores Chemistry 3.88 4.09 Economics 4.04 4.64 English 4.46 4.76 Philosophy 4.27 * Physics 4.14 * Psychology 4.41 4.65 Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
UM-AA Undergrad Student Survey (Fall 2011) (n=2,020) Asked name of best course taken so far at UM and who taught it Looked up faculty to see whether TT or NTT – found for 83% of 1,944 courses named 37.3% were Lecturers Lecturers accounted for about 30% of undergrad Student Credit Hours on Ann Arbor campus Thus NTT disproportionately likely to teach “best” course Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Our survey asked students if they knew the diff between Lecturers and TT faculty Less than 9% were able to give a reasonably accurate account of the difference ▪ Of these, only 23% thought that faculty type made a diff to the quality of undergrad ed; 63% thought it did not; 14% were unsure ▪ From one of the 63%: “I don’t think either title reflects a certain quality of instruction…. I think quality is tied to the personal motivations of the teacher and think it very strange that some outstanding teachers I’ve had aren’t up for tenure.” Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Eleven Non-Banking Methods: Class Size Lecturers TT Faculty Exams with essays (# courses) (# courses) 1. Shorter essays over term 2. Term research paper 3. Small 4.6 3.8 Multiple drafts of written 4. (25 or less) (2,199) (1,301) work Oral presentations 5. Medium 3.7 3.3 Group projects 6. (26-150) (809) (846) Student critiques of each 7. others’ writing Performance reflection, Large 2.4 2.9 8. critiques (>150) (107) (82) Entry & Exit surveys 9. Lab and/or field reports 10. Reading responses 11. Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
How number of classes taken from each type of faculty impact likelihood of completing degree? 11 studies (see Table 3, p. 31 of Teaching Equality): None finds stat. sig. diffs in student outcomes between TT and Full-time NTT faculty Six studies find stat. sig. diffs in outcomes for Part-time NTT faculty, but three do not Johnson (2011), the most statistically sophisticated, argues that once Type 1 errors are corrected, no stat. sig. diffs between TT and PT NTT faculty either Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Plausibility of this claim depends on the university and the campus At UM, not plausible for Flint or Dearborn campuses; similarly weak argument for non R-1 universities But at UM-Ann Arbor, a leading R-1 university, this argument carries great weight with Admin and many TT faculty Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
By the importance of its contribution to realizing the mission of the organization. UM’s mission statement : “to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.” -- http://president.umich.edu/mission.php Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Direct : contribution to realizing UM’s mission: Excellent teaching results in more creative, more critical, and more socially responsible and engaged people (citizens and otherwise) Excellent research and writing results in creation and dissemination of important new knowledge and art Indirect: contribution to finances that make possible the activities that directly contribute to the mission Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
Research: some yields major public benefits (e.g., new insights into causes of social inequality , new medicines, better energy technologies); some does not Teaching: every year, some 10,000 UM-AA grads go out into the world – some have taken courses and learned in ways that enable and motivate them to make major contributions to society; others, not so much Rather than assuming that research is more important by virtue of our identity as an R1 university, let’s prioritize those forms of teaching AND research that seem likely to make the greatest contribution to the public good, and cut back on forms of each that do not meet this test. Ian Robinson (e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) 22 March 2013
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