by Jon Lackman | 2 February 2010 | Career
As the College Art Association conference approaches (Feb 10-13, in Chicago), the unemployed and the underemployed spell-check their CVs, oil the squeaks out of their voices in mock interviews, and iron their professional-yet-scholarly formal wear. What are their chances this year? The CAA has released a few statistics. Job listings for art historians declined 14.3% from FY 2008 (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008) to FY 2009 (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009) and are on track to decline another 36.9% in FY 2010 (July 1, 2009–June 30, 2010).
Ouch.
CAA notes that “indicators from the US Department of Education and the American Association of University Professors show an increase in contingent faculty (e.g., part-time or adjunct positions). CAA, however, is not able to keep statistics on contingent faculty since most hires are made locally and not posted nationally on the Online Career Center.”
I’m afraid I don’t understand what they mean by “most hires are made locally.” There are many, many jobs ads for VAPs and part time positions posted on CAA’s career center. Is this just a fancy way of saying that they do not really want to address the situation?