Non-Tenure Track Faculty and Learning Communities: Bridging the Divide to Enhance Teaching Quality

Institutions of higher education are increasingly hiring non-tenure track faculty members (NTTF) to help meet the demands of the institutional teaching mission. Research suggests NTTF experience inadequate working conditions that hinder performance and negatively impact the quality of undergraduate education. Given the growing number of NTTF responsible for teaching undergraduates, it is essential for institutions to help them be effective teachers. In this article we consider the use of cohort based faculty learning communities (FLCs) to engage and socialize NTTF, thereby enhancing their working conditions, performance, and the quality of undergraduate education. We discuss implications of using FLCs for the promotion of good practice and future research.