Penn State’s Faculty Senate endorsed a position paper Tuesday to support non-tenure line faculty, saying some have been treated as "expendable resources" recently even though they've shown commitment to the university.
Faculty Senator Stephen Snyder said the goal was to recognize employees who make up about half of all the university’s faculty. As the number of non-tenure line faculty has grown, Snyder said, so have their responsibilities.
“It looks like over the last couple of years, that they’re kind of lost in the shuffle and lost against the currents of finance or whatever changes might be made to campuses for whatever reason," Snyder said.
The motion comes as Penn State is in the process of closing seven of its campuses.
The motion notes that in January, 24 non-tenure line faculty were notified their contracts would not be renewed. Non-tenure line faculty at closing campuses did not get the same buyout deals as tenured faculty and are not getting the same job guarantees now.
“The idea here is to say something, because this body has not said a thing," Snyder said. "For a year and a half, nobody said a thing, and we had to say something.”
The paper does not recommend a specific university action. Instead, Snyder said the hope is that Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi will review and consider the statement in support of non-tenure line faculty, and that could be a first step.
