“Cutting Edge” or “Ridiculously Isolated”?: Charting the Identities, Experiences and Perspectives of Full-Time, Non-Tenure Track Faculty Engaged in Service-Learning

Abstract

This article discusses a phenomenological study that investigated the complexity of identities and experiences of 11 full-time, non-tenure-track faculty in five different career tracks engaged in service-learning at a large public research university in the southeastern United States. The study employed interviews and focus groups from which key themes and findings emerged. Non-tenure-track faculty participants reported: feelings of uniqueness/isolation based on their roles but also enhanced flexibility to incorporate service-learning from intrinsic motivations; difficulty carrying out scholarship on service-learning, despite an interest in doing so; lack of recognition compared to tenure-track colleagues; the acquisition of expertise around the pedagogy; and finding particular value in the support and professional development offered by the institution’s service-learning office. The authors discuss the findings in the context of prior research on non-tenure-track faculty roles and settings, service-learning faculty involvement and motivation, and implications for institutional policy.