Butler Center panel to focus on 'Trends in Higher Education: Implications for Faculty'

The Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence invites the campus community to the panel session "Trends in Higher Education: Implications for Faculty" on Oct 1.

Institutions of higher education are going through major periods of transition, and with the economic pressure, universities are making more demands on faculty. Recent waves of faculty must be prepared to meet the new challenges facing the professoriate while representing the diversity of the population. Institutions of higher education are hiring and supporting a diverse faculty workforce. Although commitments to tenured and tenure-track faculty continue, there is a growing group of non-tenured faculty under other categories, such as clinical faculty, continuing lecturers, visiting faculty, adjuncts (part-time or full-time), faculty and instructors.

The changing structure requires institutions to think strategically about providing faculty with opportunities and resources for recognition and excellence. What are the trends in higher education? What are the implications of these trends for leadership of women in academia? How can institutions respond to the changing profile of students? And what are the patterns in recruitment, types of appointments, retention, and time to promotion, if any, within the different types of non-tenure-track faculty appointments?

The panel session is scheduled for noon-1:30 p.m. at the Purdue Memorial Union’s West Faculty Lounge. Lunch will be provided. All faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend. Registration is required and can be completed online.

The speakers are Jennifer Ruark, deputy managing editor, Chronicle of Higher Education; Teresa Sullivan, president emerita, University of Virginia; Kris Wong Davis, vice provost for enrollment management, Purdue; and Malathi Raghavan; clinical associate professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue.