Using a Legal Lens to Better Understand and Frame Issues Shaping the Employment Environment of Non-Tenure Track Faculty Members

Abstract

This article provides an overview and analysis of legal standards helping to shape the employment environment of non–tenure track faculty members. Familiarity with the significant differences in the types of employment arrangements for non–tenure track faculty and the resulting legal protections is of potential value to scholars seeking to better understand issues related to these faculty members. Many non–tenure track faculty members possess limited legal protections related to their employment, but a minority work under multiyear appointments with an expectation of renewal. The presence or absence of collective bargaining rights may also result in meaningful differences in the employment environment of non–tenure track faculty members. Additionally, the article examines the potential impact on non–tenure track faculty of legal uncertainty over First Amendment protection for individual academic freedom and other forms of professorial speech.