Non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF) make up over 50 percent of the faculty in higher education (“Percentages of Full-Time Faculty,” 2020). At associate’s and baccalaureate-granting institutions, more than 70 percent of faculty are NTTF. There are many consequences of this composition, including effects on student learning, academic governance, and faculty health and well-being. One of the less discussed consequences of these changes is the pipeline for available faculty leaders. With faculty burnout (Pope-Ruark, 2022) and workload equity (O’Meara et al., 2021) dominating the narrative, tenured faculty cannot possibly fulfill all the formal and informal leadership roles needed in higher education today. Many NTTF have the same or similar education and training as tenure-track faculty and should not be excluded from leadership simply because of their line.
Character (Still) Counts: Moral Injury and the Case for Character Education
Many academic leaders remember the Character Counts! initiative from the 1990s and early 2000s. It was visible in schools and youth programs nationwide, emphasizing as core values the Six Pillars
Teresa Maggard Stephens
June 15, 2026
