Innovative Higher Education, Vol. 29, No. 2, Winter 2004 ( C  2004) Students as Partial Employees: A Metaphor for the Student-Institution Interaction K. Douglas Hoffman and Mark A. Kretovics ABSTRACT: We propose a new metaphor for describing the interaction between stu- dents and their institutions of higher education, “students as partial employees.” Several current metaphors anchored in the quality movement are reviewed to provide a back- ground for this new way of viewing today’s college students. This article provides the readers with examples of the metaphor in use and describes why the partial employee transcends the academic and administrative structures of higher education. KEY WORDS: students; customers; products; metaphors; quality. During the past few decades higher education has attempted to de- fine its student population using metaphors. Three frequently used metaphors are “the student as a customer” (Comesky, McCool, Byrnes, & Weber, 1992; Schwartzman, 1995; Tovote, 2001); “the student as a product” (Sirvanci, 1996); and “the student as employee” (Helms & Key, 1994). These three metaphors have emerged from the quality movement in the for-profit sector of business and industry. However, many faculty and staff are uncomfortable with these choices, believing that they are too businesslike to be acceptable or applicable within higher education (Driscoll & Wicks, 1998; Scrabec, 2000). Others in the academy suggest that students are students, no more, no less. While accurate, this does not provide one with a framework for defining the interaction between the student and the institution whereas, the customer, product, and employee metaphors imply such a relationship. Doug Hoffman is a Professor of Marketing at Colorado State University. He received his B.S. from The Ohio State University and his M.B.A. and D.B.A. from the University of Kentucky. His primary teaching and research passion is in the Services Marketing area where he has started the first Services Marketing classes at Mississippi State University, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Colorado State University. Mark Kretovics is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel at Kent State University. He received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University, M.B.A. from Chaminade University, M.S. from Radford University, and his B.S. from Bowling Green State University. His research interests include the assessment of student learning, business practices in higher education, distance education, and pedagogical issues in compressed courses. 103 C  2004 Springer Science+ Business Media, Inc.