Jack H. Schuster

The New University: What It Portends for the Academic Profession and Their ‘Managers’

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the ongoing transformation of the university and the emergence of perhaps a new – or at least newish – university model or paradigm rather than to attempt to depict the traits of middle managers and what exactly may be different about their tasks in this more aggressively management-oriented climate. To portray this context entails some observations about the transformation of the university itself, as well as a description of the profound changes in the composition, work and careers of the faculty. Understanding better this context should facilitate some insights into the implications for the complex role of academe’s middle managers.

Whither the Faculty

• There is an inherent tension between proportionate decline in the percentage of tenured and tenure track faculty and the increase in representation of women faculty and members of underrepresented groups. • Faculty members are now attaining their entry level, probationary positions at a later age and are taking longer to get promoted. This is especially true for academic women. • Faculty members are no longer socialized to their roles in the same ways, an unintended consequence of the decline in the proportion of faculty appointments on the tenure track. This disruption has implications for faculty work and for the culture of higher education. • These data point to the need for rededication and recommitment to keeping tabs on the central human resource of our human capital enterprise—The Faculty Factor.