The third area of potential opportunity identified by Drucker is demographic changes. Significant social, economic, and technological changes are challenging universities to reconsider their business. The profile of the undergraduate has changed dramatically. Prior to World War II, universities educated a fairly homogeneous population: 60 percent male, 97 percent Caucasian, middle and upper class backgrounds, upper third or upper quarter ranking in high school (Lucas, 1994, p. xiv). The shift in this demographic began with the GI Bill of 1944. Lucas writes, “The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944—popularly dubbed the GI Bill of Rights—more than any other single initiative, brought massive changes to higher education in the postwar era”. This influx of nontraditional students, approximately 60,000 men and women, “altered the meaning of a college education”.
These demographic changes continued throughout the succeeding decades. Beginning in the 1960s, women and minorities began attending college in greater numbers, and by the 1970s women outnumbered men (Lucas, 1994, p. xvi). Huber and Hutchings (2005) reported that the profile of the eighteen-year-old entering college supported by parents and working only part time has become the exception rather than the norm. Close to half of the undergraduates in the United States are more than twenty-four years old, and more than one quarter are working adults over thirty. The part-time student is quickly becoming the norm. Additionally, undergraduates who are married and/or have children have become routine. Nearly 60 percent are pursuing occupational degrees or professional studies (Lucas, 1994, p. xvi).
The nature of the traditional-aged student has also changed. Often called the millennials, these highly social students, technologically savvy and intolerant of delays, create new demands on the system from housing to admission to marketing to pedagogy. Their highly social nature leads them to prefer teamwork and group activity and to keep constant contact with their social network. And with the growing calls for accessibility, more and more students are the first of their family to attend college. No longer is a homogeneous student population the norm or the goal. This changing population of students adds another new demand on institutions while offering an opportunity to support innovation.
In addition to the changing demographics of students is a shift in demographics of faculty and staff. Between 1976 and 2005 full-time nonfaculty professional staff grew at a rate of 281 percent. At the same time the rate of administrative staff doubled (American Association of University Professors, 2008). The growth rate of full- and part-time nontenure-track faculty was 200 percent. The American Association of University Professors (2008) reports that “the more than 200 percent increase in the number of contingent faculty on the payrolls represents a deprofessionalization of the faculty role in higher education” (p. 14). Similarly, Schuster and Finkelstein (2006) write about the restructuring of the American faculty, noting that no one is content with the way campuses are governed, and the tension between managerial culture and faculty-shared governance is becoming greater, contributing to a reshaping and redistribution of academic work.
Gappa, Austin, and Trice (2007) examined what they describe as the changing context for faculty work and noted that the rise of temporary, short-term, and part-time faculty constitutes one of the “most significant responses by universities and colleges to the challenges posed by fiscal constraints and by the need to stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment”. They conclude that the institutional goal of gaining flexibility and cost efficiency through the shifts in faculty appointment types has created an inequitable two-tiered system that undermines the sense of commitment that faculty bring to their work. These nontenure-track faculty members have little or no role in shared governance and more often than not are dividing their energy teaching at multiple institutions. In sum, the dramatic increase in administrative staff and nontenured faculty represents a major shift in university personnel that directly affects the core service of the university, academics.
These demographic changes continued throughout the succeeding decades. Beginning in the 1960s, women and minorities began attending college in greater numbers, and by the 1970s women outnumbered men (Lucas, 1994, p. xvi). Huber and Hutchings (2005) reported that the profile of the eighteen-year-old entering college supported by parents and working only part time has become the exception rather than the norm. Close to half of the undergraduates in the United States are more than twenty-four years old, and more than one quarter are working adults over thirty. The part-time student is quickly becoming the norm. Additionally, undergraduates who are married and/or have children have become routine. Nearly 60 percent are pursuing occupational degrees or professional studies (Lucas, 1994, p. xvi).
The nature of the traditional-aged student has also changed. Often called the millennials, these highly social students, technologically savvy and intolerant of delays, create new demands on the system from housing to admission to marketing to pedagogy. Their highly social nature leads them to prefer teamwork and group activity and to keep constant contact with their social network. And with the growing calls for accessibility, more and more students are the first of their family to attend college. No longer is a homogeneous student population the norm or the goal. This changing population of students adds another new demand on institutions while offering an opportunity to support innovation.
In addition to the changing demographics of students is a shift in demographics of faculty and staff. Between 1976 and 2005 full-time nonfaculty professional staff grew at a rate of 281 percent. At the same time the rate of administrative staff doubled (American Association of University Professors, 2008). The growth rate of full- and part-time nontenure-track faculty was 200 percent. The American Association of University Professors (2008) reports that “the more than 200 percent increase in the number of contingent faculty on the payrolls represents a deprofessionalization of the faculty role in higher education” (p. 14). Similarly, Schuster and Finkelstein (2006) write about the restructuring of the American faculty, noting that no one is content with the way campuses are governed, and the tension between managerial culture and faculty-shared governance is becoming greater, contributing to a reshaping and redistribution of academic work.
Gappa, Austin, and Trice (2007) examined what they describe as the changing context for faculty work and noted that the rise of temporary, short-term, and part-time faculty constitutes one of the “most significant responses by universities and colleges to the challenges posed by fiscal constraints and by the need to stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment”. They conclude that the institutional goal of gaining flexibility and cost efficiency through the shifts in faculty appointment types has created an inequitable two-tiered system that undermines the sense of commitment that faculty bring to their work. These nontenure-track faculty members have little or no role in shared governance and more often than not are dividing their energy teaching at multiple institutions. In sum, the dramatic increase in administrative staff and nontenured faculty represents a major shift in university personnel that directly affects the core service of the university, academics.
