New report on sessional faculty in Ontario universities

The unprecedented growth in non-tenure/tenure track faculty has led to speculation as to the learning environment and learning outcomes for students. Both national media and researchers have raised concerns about the growth in short-term contract faculty, yet there is little evidentiary data to support policy development. (p.3)

A new CIHE report by Cynthia Field and Glen Jones takes a step towards addressing the lack of evidence to guide debate on the quickly growing population of university instructors who work on short-term contracts.

A Survey of Sessional Faculty in Ontario Publicly-Funded Universities reports on findings from a survey of instructors at 12 universities. It identifies and discusses current pressures and challenges sessional faculty experience, and puts forwards several recommendations for improving the learning environment.

This research was supported by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development through the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund (OHCRIF). Read the full report.