The Use Of Sessional Teachers In Universities: Faculty Of The Built Environment, University Of New South Wales Australia

Abstract

This paper discusses the issues and realities presented by the casualisation of higher education teaching staff. It uses a case study from the University of New South Wales [UNSW] in Sydney Australia. The research presents and analyses perspectives from two key stakeholders in a university [students and academic management] on the use of sessional [also called casual or part-time] teachers in a professional faculty – the Built Environment. The strength of this paper lies in the presentation of the student voice and the reflections of an Associate Dean of Education who is ultimately responsible for ensuring quality learning and teaching in a faculty. Both of these are perspectives that are rarely heard in the current literature on this issue.

Although this paper uses an Australian case study, the discussion of the issues and challenges of the casualisation of higher education teaching staff has transcending value to universities and colleges around the world. Questions posed throughout the paper challenge traditional ideas of engaging part-time teachers in universities and thus, by default, set a framework for further study on this contentious practice.