The picture that emerges from a look at the staffing practices of Florida universities in the past five years is complex. Like universities across the nation, Florida schools have been beset by budget cuts. And like schools nationally, the schools have limited tenure-track faculty positions and turned more to part timers and adjunct professors to control costs. But most schools, both nationally and in Florida, have hired administrators at a much faster clip than enrollment growth. This report looks at the trends — and explanations.

 

TREND
Less Tenure
Since 2007, enrollment at Florida’s state universities has grown 9.5% to 329,737. During the same period, the universities added very few tenured professors and reduced the number of junior professors working toward tenure by 19%. Collectively, tenured and tenure-track faculty make up 25% of the university total, down from 27% five years ago and 33% in 2004.

Tenure Droppoff

Year	Students Per Tenured Faculty1	Students Per Administrator2
2002	51	81
2003	54	66
2004	52	81
2005	60	87
2006	60	91
2007	61	88
2008	56	84
2009	57	85
2010	59	81
2011	61	79

¹ Excludes Florida Gulf Coast University, which doesn’t have tenure ² Includes executives and managers

Source: Based on Board of Governors staff analysis of IPEDS full-time, tenured faculty (includes medical and non-medical staff involved with instruction) and administrative data and State University Database System (SUDS) student data

 

TREND
Increasing Student-Faculty Ratios
Only the use of contingent faculty has kept student/faculty ratios from eroding dramatically. Overall, the public universities in Florida report a 25.1 student/faculty ratio, up from 23.9 five years earlier, though the ratio varies greatly by institution. Ratios across the system soar when just tenured faculty are counted.

University	Fall 2007	Fall 2011
UCF	28.8	31.7
FIU	26.3	27.0
FSU	25.0	26.5
USF	26.8	26.1
UWF	18.9	23.8
FGCU	17.8	22.3
FAMU	16.7	21.3
UNF	21.7	20.5
UF	21.7	20.5
FAU	18.4	20.0
NCF	10.4	10.4
System	23.9	25.1

Source: Board of Governors annual accountability reports

More Bosses
As schools allowed their tenure-track teacher ranks to thin, they added administrators and managers at a clip that at some schools outpaced enrollment growth. From 2007 to 2011, universities added 696 full-time executives, administrators and managers, bringing the total to 4,030, a 21% increase, and added 320 “other professional” employees — typically degree-holding individuals in support and service posts — bringing that full-time total to 12,616, a 3% increase. UF, for example, lost 261 tenure and tenure-track posts in five years while gaining 242 executives, administrators and managers.
The decline in teaching resources and increase in administrative positions at Florida universities mirror national trends that hold true for both public and private universities. Florida’s 25% ratio of tenured and tenure-track faculty nearly matches the national average.

University	2007	2011	% Change
FAMU	157	177	12.7%
FAU	273	277	1.5
FGCU	149	159	6.7
FIU	517	715	38.3
FSU	425	394	(-7.3)
NCF	41	46	12.2
USF	568	726	27.8
UCF	480	564	17.5
UF	427	669	56.7
UNF	235	272	15.7
UWF*	27	31	14.8
System	3,299	4,030	22.2%

* UWF’s data is an anomaly. It doesn’t report these numbers in a way comparable to the other universities.
Source: Board of Governors annual accountability reports

 

RATIOS
Here’s what the Florida universities, collectively, looked like in 2007 and 2011.

For Each 100 Students, There Were ...

Category	2007	2011
Tenured/tenure-track faculty	3.2	2.8
Non-tenured faculty/instructors	3.3	3.5
Administrators/execs/managers	1.3	1.5

Source: Board of Governors; faculty data from the 2011-12 Accountability Report; student enrollment data is from the BOG online enrollment tool (based on E&G, state-fundable, and the U.S. definition of FTE)

 

TREND
More Adjuncts, Part Timers
The schools increased their use of “contingent” hires — full-time teachers not on the tenure path and part timers. Since 2007, Florida schools added 1,213 such faculty and instructors — not counting graduate students — a 14% increase.

Hiring Changes (2007-11)
Individual schools made different choices about how to deploy resources in hiring.

University	Full-Time Tenured	Full-Time Tenure Track	Non-Tenured Full-Time	Part-Time	Grad Assitants
New College	(-6.3%)	(-6.3%)	100.0%	86.7%	NA
FIU	(-5.6)	12.8	82.1	0.4	3.4
UNF	12.4	2.0	(-19.3)	2.4	36.5
USF	3.1	(-12.6)	(-13.9)	80.3	19.4
UWF	2.5	(-26.3)	(-15.7)	NA	11.1
FSU	(-0.5)	(-38.3)	(-1.9)	11.1	0.4
UCF	14.9	(-29.9)	36.8	13.3	(-12.6)
FAU	18.1	(-40.1)	10.1	(-4.4)	23.4
FAMU	(-13.5)	0.8	1.2	18.6	35.9
UF	(-5.9)	(-17.9)	7.2	15.5	(-1.9)
System	0.6	(-18.6)	9.4	19.0	5.4

Note: FGCU not listed because it does not offer tenure.
Source: Florida Board of Governors annual accountability reports