More Salary Data

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) recently put together some statistics in their report "The State of Higher Education Workforce 1997-2007." It compiles now-familiar information on faculty salaries and the steady decline of tenure-track teaching. Researchers put these findings next to statistics about the growth of administrative staff, and the picture is one I've written about quite a bit on the blog: universities are spending more on administration and less on teaching.

These findings won't shock you, but here they are, from the executive summary:

• The number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members declined from approximately one-third of the instructional staff in 1997 to just over one-quarter in 2007.

While the overall number of faculty and instructors grew over the 10 years, nearly two-thirds of that growth was in contingent labor, which increased from twothirds to nearly three-quarters of all instructional staff.

• The number of administrators, the majority of whom were full time, also increased by a substantial percentage.

This group grew by 41 percent, to a total of about 59,000, between 1997 and 2007. This growth was concentrated in full-time positions, with the number of full time administrators growing by 43 percent and accounting for 99 percent of all administrators.

Talking Points
In every report on higher education, the data tell the same story: universities are spending more on administration and less on education. This has got to be a key message AAUP internalizes as we move forward in tough economic times. It has been administration, not teaching or research faculty nor academic professionals, who have been the winners in the past decade. As we look to cut costs, that message must be clear.