1. Supporting Fixed-Term Faculty at UNC
Nancy C. Fisher, Ph.D. Chair
Report to APWIMS November 2, 2015

2. 44% (1496) have fixed term appointments 42% of our faculty are tenured
Of 3406 UNC-CH faculty,
44% (1496) have fixed term appointments
[51.4% including adjunct faculty]
42% of our faculty are tenured
14% are on tenure track
School of Medicine has 1518 faculty, 934 are Fixed-Term (61.5%)
66% of all FTF on campus are in SOM
66% of all FTF on campus are in the school of Medicine (934).
12% of all FTF(183) are in CAS
19% in CAS are FT
Other Health Affairs schools also have large FTF numbers
43/95 Dentistry 45%
55/89 Nursing 62%
51/98 Pharmacy 52%
92/225 Public Health 41%

3. Women are overrepresented in Fixed-Term Faculty positions at UNC
In Health Affairs Schools, 68% of women are FT.

4. Faculty Council Representation
The committee for Fixed Term Faculty consists of six members, appointed by the Chair of the Faculty
In 2014, the committee sent a survey to all FTF to learn the key issues facing FTF on campus.
We received over 50% response rate!

5. FTF respondents - Satisfaction
63% of faulty respondents indicated that they were either Satisfied or Very Satisfied with their employment situation at UNC. However, as I will show shortly, there are areas which erode this sense of euphoria.
How would you characterize your relative level of satisfaction with your current employment situation at UNC? (Please consider here all factors, from salary to recognition and support to your happiness with the relative mix of activities in your work to your relationship with colleagues.)

6. Ranking topics Competitive salary and compensation 1
Job security/length of contracts 2
Clarity of your performance evaluations 3
Ability to apply for competitive internal grants, leaves, or awards 4
Availability of faculty development or mentoring programs or opportunities 5
Participation in faculty governance on the department/school level 6
Clarifying the definition of the role of fixed-term faculty vs. tenure-stream faculty 7
Implementation of appropriate academic titles 8

7. Frequency of responses regarding specific professional challenges of Fixed Term Faculty at UNC - sample: FTF with one year contracts who have been at UNC for 5-10 years (N=110)

8. Conclusions: Encourage Best Practices for FTF at UNC
Standardize length of contracts and provide adequate non-renewal notice
Communicate standards and criteria for promotion, providing clear professional progression
Provide career development resources and opportunities
Encourage participation in department activities at faculty level

9. Outcomes Raised awareness of FTF on campus
Generated data to support real institutional change
Developed list of Best Practices
Many departments are revisiting their FTF guidelines and contract lengths.
Expanding the Best Practices to include a conversation about Race and issues concerning minority Fixed-Term Faculty.
Working on University-wide contract length by time of service and rank.

10. Acknowledgements
Sarah Birken, Ph.D. Dept. Health Policy and Management
Bruce Cairns, M.D., Chair of the Faculty
Anne Whisnant, Ph.D. , Deputy Secretary of the Faculty
Fixed-Term Faulty Committee: committees/fixed-term-faculty-committee/