Liberal Education, Fall 2003 Faculty Work in Challenging Times: Trends, Consequences & Implications By KerryAnn O'Meara, Regina R. Kaufman, Aaron M. Kuntz Aaron Kaufman returns to work after a week's vacation with his family. There are over a hundred e-mails and a stack of mail from students and colleagues waiting for him. He has received a letter from the Center for Teaching inviting him to participate in a diversity training and possibly a new living-learning program that includes significant service-learning and community outreach. There is a message from the dean reporting that due to budget cuts they will not be able to replace the two faculty his department lost to early retirement this year, but will need to hire some two or three adjuncts or one non- tenure-track position. Does he know of any recent graduates or colleagues who might be interested? There is an e-mail from a former student who just received tenure thanking him for his support over the last five years. He has just about finished the e-mail when a colleague stops by to share the news that the department was successful in obtaining a new multimedia projection system for their main classroom, but that the technical support budget has been cut. Does Aaron know anything about transferring video to CD- ROM? This story of challenges and opportunities in academic life is all too familiar. While we have packed much into Aaron's first day back, we believe the way in which these challenges and opportunities confronted him simultaneously, with little time for reflection, is characteristic of the way many faculty experience their work in our times. This article explores the consequences and implications of four contemporary trends affecting faculty work-life and the academic profession in higher education: reductions in funding (and subsequently resources), increasing entrepreneurship, the changing nature of academic appointments, and efforts toward reform of undergraduate education. A central question framing the discussion of these major forces reshaping higher education is this: How might the academic profession respond to these trends in ways that enhance faculty performance, well-being, and satisfaction, and thereby foster the ability of faculty members to serve students, institutions, and society? In asking this question we assume that faculty are a crucial investment and resource for higher education (Bowen and Schuster 1986). However, faculty cannot be effective in responding to current trends and institutional imperatives unless they are cultivated and supported (Braskamp 2003). Based on the research of Charles J. Walker (2002, 2003) on faculty well-being, we further assume that faculty will respond most effectively to change if they are striving to achieve challenging and meaningful goals, are experts at the work they do most often, have sufficient control of their work, have reliable sources of social support, and receive feedback on the quality of their work on a regular basis.