The shrinking role of faculty in U.S. higher education

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — “One of the key ingredients that made American higher education great is at risk,” said professor Martin J. Finkelstein, of the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy in the College of Education and Human Services at Seton Hall University. To address this threat, Finkelstein released his latest book, “The Faculty Factor: Reassessing the American Academy in a Turbulent Era,” published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

The “faculty factor,” or placing the faculty at the center of university academic life, has propelled American higher education to global pre-eminence. That model is now at risk as American universities face unprecedented challenges — financial and otherwise. The “Faculty Factor” utilizes new research by Finkelstein and colleagues to address crucial themes affecting American higher education while answering three pertinent questions: What is happening, what does it mean and so what?

“There is a correlation between the ascent of the faculty and America’s global standing in higher education,” Finkelstein said.

  Seton Hall University