The rise of the pro-sessional: precarious employees taking on complex and faculty-critical roles

Researchers have noted for several years that universities are increasingly relying on precariously employed academics rather than employing continuing or permanent staff members, and consequently, the length of time a new academic can expect to be sessionally employed is growing. However, within this epidemic of universities relying on precariously employed staff, these unsecurely employed academics are no longer taking on minor roles or filling temporary staffing gaps. This paper uses data collected from over 180 academics to explore the rise of what we have called the Pro-Sessional; a new category of university employee who is expected to carry out complex and faculty-critical roles despite not having the salary, job security or support of a tenured academic. The work demonstrates to new academics the trends involved in these practices, and alerts academic unions of another growing situation that requires monitoring as precariously employed academics continue to be manipulated in new ways.