• All Faculty and Instructional Staff
• Instructional Faculty and Staff

NSOPF:99 indicates that in the fall of 1998, there were about 1.1 million (1,074,000) faculty and instructional staff¹ employed by public and private not-for-profit 2-year-and-above postsecondary institutions in the United States. Most faculty and instructional staff (i.e., approximately 761,000) were employed by 4-year institutions. Among the various types of 4-year institutions in the country,² public research and public comprehensive institutions employed the most faculty and instructional staff (201,000 and 137,000, respectively). Private doctoral and private research institutions were among the smallest employers of faculty and instructional staff (43,000 and 64,000, respectively) (figure A).

Figure A.—Number of faculty and instructional staff in postsecondary institutions, by institution type: Fall 1998

Fifty-seven percent of faculty and instructional staff were employed full time and 43 percent were employed part time by their institutions in the fall of 1998. The employment status of faculty and instructional staff varied depending on the type of college or university where they were employed. Faculty and instructional staff in research institutions were much more likely to be employed full time (80 percent for public research and 71 percent for private not-for-profit research) than faculty and instructional staff employed by public 2-year institutions, where approximately one-third (36 percent) were employed full time. Thus, although public 2-year institutions employed a large number of faculty and instructional staff (figure A), most worked part time at their institution.

Faculty are often thought of primarily as teachers, but faculty are assigned to a variety of other activities at their institutions, such as research, administration, community/public service, clinical service, and technical activities. In fact, among full-time³ faculty and instructional staff, 35 percent indicated that their principal activity at their institution was something other than teaching: approximately 11 percent indicated research, 13 percent indicated administrative activities, and 11 percent indicated some other activity (e.g., technical activities, clinical service, or community/public service) was their principal activity during the fall of 1998 (figure B). Among part-time faculty and instructional staff, 89 percent indicated that teaching was their principal activity, and 11 percent indicated that something else was their principal activity: 2 percent indicated research, 2 percent indicated administration, and 7 percent indicated some other activity (figure B).

Full-time faculty and instructional staff at public and private not-for-profit research institutions were more likely than those at other types of institutions to indicate that their principal activity was research. For instance, about one-third of the full-time faculty at private research universities indicated that their principal activity at their institution was research. In contrast, almost no full-time faculty and instructional staff at public 2-year institutions were engaged primarily in research.

A higher percentage of full-time faculty and instructional staff in the program areas of engineering and the natural sciences indicated that their principal activity was research (24 and 29 percent, respectively) than those in the program areas of business (7 percent), education (4 percent), fine arts (1 percent), and the humanities (4 percent).

Figure B.—Principal activity of all faculty and instructional staff, by employment status: Fall 1998

Although some (35 percent of full-time and 11 percent of part-time) faculty and instructional staff indicated that teaching was not their principal activity during the fall of 1998 (figure B), approximately 91 percent of full- and part-time faculty and instructional staff had some for-credit teaching responsibilities during the fall of 1998 (figure C).

Not all postsecondary institutions designate their instructional staff as faculty. Seventeen percent of all part-time and 3 percent of all full-time instructional staff did not have faculty status at their institution in the fall of 1998 (figure D).

Among the approximately 1 million (976,000) faculty and instructional staff who had some for-credit instructional responsibilities, 57 percent were employed full time and 43 percent were employed part time, the same distribution as for all faculty and instructional staff. The remainder of this article presents highlights on the background characteristics, work activities, and compensation of faculty and staff with at least some instructional duties related to credit courses or advising or supervising academic activities for which students received credit.

Figure C.—Whether faculty and instructional staff had any for-credit instructional responsibilities, by employment status: Fall 1998

Figure D.—Instructional staff with faculty status, by employment status: Fall 1998

In the fall of 1998, the majority of full-time instructional faculty and staff were White, non-Hispanic (85 percent). Approximately 6 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander; 5 percent were Black, non-Hispanic; 3 percent were Hispanic; and 1 percent were American Indian or Alaska Native (figure E). Most full-time instructional faculty and staff (64 percent) were men (figure F). Among full-time instructional faculty and staff at 2-year institutions, however, men and women were equally represented.

Eight of every 10 (84 percent of) full-time instructional faculty and staff employed at 4-year institutions held one of three professorial ranks (i.e., full, associate, or assistant). The majority of full-time instructional faculty and staff (53 percent) were tenured in the fall of 1998. Another 19 percent of full-time instructional faculty and staff were on tenure track, but not tenured; 18 percent were not on tenure track, although the institution had a tenure system; and 10 percent were at institutions that did not have a tenure system.

The majority of part-time instructional faculty and staff (78 percent) were not on tenure track, although their institution had a tenure system. Only 4 percent of part-time instructional faculty and staff indicated that they were tenured in the fall of 1998; 2 percent were on tenure track, but not tenured; and 17 percent were employed by institutions that did not have a tenure system.

In the fall of 1998, 67 percent of full-time instructional faculty and staff at postsecondary institutions had a doctoral or a first-professional⁴ degree, 28 percent had a master’s degree, and 5 percent had a bachelor’s degree or less.⁵ Approximately 92 percent of full-time instructional faculty and staff at private not-for-profit research institutions had doctoral or first-professional degrees. In contrast, about 20 percent of the full-time instructional faculty and staff at public 2-year institutions held such degrees. Approximately 60 percent of part-time instructional faculty and staff at private not-for-profit research institutions had doctoral or first-professional degrees, whereas about 11 percent of the part-time instructional faculty and staff at public 2-year institutions held such degrees.

Figure E.—Racial/ethnic distribution of full-time instructional faculty and staff: Fall 1998

Figure F.—Gender of instructional faculty and staff, by employment status: Fall 1998

Across all colleges and universities, the average workweek for full-time instructional faculty and staff was 53 hours and the average workweek for part-time instructional faculty and staff was 37 hours in the fall of 1998. Full-time instructional faculty and staff spent the majority (57 percent) of their workweek on teaching activities,⁶ and divided the remainder of their time between research activities,⁷ administrative activities,⁸ and other activities.⁹

Full-time instructional faculty and staff spent 11 hours per week, on average, actually teaching classes for credit in the fall of 1998. The number of hours spent teaching classes ranged from 7 hours at private research institutions to 17 hours at public 2-year institutions. Part-time instructional faculty and staff spent approximately 7 hours per week teaching classes for credit in the fall of 1998.

This section of the article provides information on the monetary compensation received by full- and part-time instructional faculty and staff during the 1998 calendar year. Income from four different sources is examined:

• basic salary from the institution;
• other income from the institution (including income from additional teaching activities, e.g., for summer session, or from supplements not included in basic salary, e.g., for administration, research, or coaching sports; the estimated value of nonmonetary compensation, e.g., food, housing, or car; and any other income from the institution);
• outside consulting income (including income from consulting work, a consulting business, or freelance work); and
• other outside income (including income from employment at another academic institution; legal or medical services or psychological counseling; self-owned business, other than consulting; professional performances or exhibitions; speaking fees and honoraria; royalties or commissions; the estimated value of nonmonetary compensation; and income from any other employment).

During the 1998 calendar year, full-time instructional faculty and staff earned approximately $69,000, on average, from all sources, ranging from about $102,000 at private not-for-profit research institutions to $51,000 at private liberal arts colleges. Of this total income, approximately $57,000 was earned from the faculty member’s basic salary, $4,000 was earned from other income from the institution, $2,000 was earned from outside consulting income, and $6,000 was earned from other outside income, on average. These estimates include all full-time instructional faculty and staff, regardless of whether they earned a particular type of income for the 1998 calendar year.

Part-time instructional faculty and staff earned substantially less income than their full-time counterparts ($46,000 vs. $69,000). Average basic salary from their institution was about $12,000 for part-time instructional faculty and staff compared to $57,000 for those working full time. Part-time instructional faculty and staff, however, earned substantially more outside income than their full-time counterparts ($32,000 vs. $6,000, not including consulting income), perhaps reflecting income from a second job.

In fact, 77 percent of part-time instructional faculty and staff earned income (other than consulting income) from outside their institution during the 1998 calendar year. Among those part-time instructional faculty and staff who earned such income from outside their institution in 1998, the average amount was $41,000. In comparison, 47 percent of full-time instructional faculty and staff earned income from outside their institution during 1998, averaging about $13,000.

¹Teaching assistants were not included in NSOPF.

²Throughout the report, comparisons are made across institution types and program areas. Institution types are based on the Carnegie classification and whether the institution is public or private not-for-profit. To improve readability, the phrase “not-for-profit” may be excluded when referring to “private not-for-profit” institutions. There were no “private for-profit” institutions in the NSOPF sample.

³Terminology related to full- and part-time instructional faculty and staff references the employment status of the person at the institution rather than the amount of instruction the person did.

⁴First-professional areas of study include medicine, dentistry, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, pediatric medicine, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, and theological professions.

⁵A very small percentage of full-time instructional faculty and staff reported having earned no postsecondary degree. These individuals are included among those with “a bachelor’s degree or less.”

⁶Teaching activities included teaching, grading papers, and preparing courses; developing new curricula; advising or supervising students; supervising student teachers and interns; and working with student organizations or intramural athletics.

⁷Research activities included research; reviewing or preparing articles or books; attending or preparing for professional meetings or conferences; reviewing proposals; seeking outside funding; and giving performances or exhibitions in the fine or applied arts, or giving speeches.

⁸Administrative activities included department or institutionwide meetings or committee work.

⁹Other activities included professional growth (including taking courses, pursuing an advanced degree, and other professional development activities, such as practice or activities to remain current in your field); outside consulting or freelance work; and service/other nonteaching activities (including providing legal or medical services or psychological counseling to clients or patients, paid or unpaid community or public service, service to professional societies/associations, and other activities or work not listed in any of the other activities).

Data source: The NCES 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:99). For technical information, see the complete report: Zimbler, L.J. (2001). Background Characteristics, Work Activities, and Compensation of Faculty and Instructional Staff in Postsecondary Institutions: Fall 1998 (NCES 2001–152). Author affiliation: L.J. Zimbler, NCES. For questions about content, contact Linda J. Zimbler (linda.zimbler@ed.gov). To obtain the complete report (NCES 2001–152), call the toll-free ED Pubs number (877-433-7827) or visit the NCES Web Site (http://nces.ed.gov).