Last week The Chronicle reported in “Tenure, RIP” that by 2007, “the proportion of college instructors who are tenured or on the tenure track plummeted…to 31 percent.” Lower in this article, “Professors who talked to The Chronicle” speculate that the proportion of tenure or tenure-track teachers “may go as low as 15 percent or 20 percent of all instructors, and then reach a holding pattern.” Whether you think that tenure is the only guarantor of academic freedom or something that impedes innovation and flexibility on a university level, these numbers should be troubling because they mean that almost 70% of our current college instructors are not in a position to earn a living wage. Working either as full-time lecturers, graduate students, or adjuncts, the new faculty majority are underpaid. And as research has shown (also reported in “Tenure, RIP”), retention and graduation rates for students decline. So this arrangement is bad for students and teachers.
I’m not telling you anything new here. This is how the university works, after all. But since a full 70% of university instructors fall into this category, I thought that it might be worthwhile to share a few insights that I gained in the last two years as I’ve worked as contingent faculty. In the spirit of ProfHacker, I want to keep this post as positive as possible when dealing with such a contentious subject. We all know that this is a terrible system; but it’s a system that will be in place for the foreseeable future and many will continue working in it for many reasons. With these as givens, it’s easy to see that there is real merit to finding ways to make the system as bearable as one can.
It’s also worth mentioning that for the past two years I have been a “visiting assistant professor,” which is a nice name for a full-time lecturer. I was fortunate to have a full slate of classes and even benefits at both jobs. My first year was at my doctoral institution; the second position was even renewable for up to five years. While neither was a position that enabled me to support my family, it was far preferable to being a freeway flier who tries to cobble together a 5/5 at different schools for $2500 (or less) per class. My experience, in other words, has been far better than it could have been. With that being said, here are six points I would tell to other contingent instructors.
- Be nice to the admin staff: It’s hardly a Prof Hack to tell you that the people who knows the most about any situation in a department isn’t the department or the endowed chair—it’s the department administrative staff. Whether you need to learn how your school’s add/drop system works or where the nearest bathroom is, these ladies and gentlemen will be the best people to help you out. They will also be the people you need on your side when you need to have a different classroom than the one you’ve been scheduled because you just don’t want to teach a course down the hall from the campus’s Meat Lab. It’s also worth mentioning that admin staff are often compensated as wretchedly as contingent faculty and as such deserve every kindness we can give them.
- Contribute something to your program: It’s very easy to feel disconnected from your department when you are not a full-time member of the faculty. If you are commuting long distances, you might not have the time to attend any departmental events which let you get to know people. I’ve discovered that the best way to get to know people in the department is to contribute something to your program. At Clemson, where I taught most recently, I decided to make a digital version of the department’s letterhead. Since more and more people need to submit letters of recommendation electronically, having a Word document with the letterhead built in can be very handy. Once I had the letterhead designed, I forwarded it to the department listserv. The result was that I suddenly had people seeking me out and I had an easy in to talking to new colleagues. While I needed the for my job application materials, sharing it was easy and made me feel connected to others. Win-win. Finding a need in the department and filling it changed my whole feeling about the experience.
- Get to know colleagues: Whether you’ve found the perfect thing to contribute to a department or not, do your best to get know as many of your colleagues as possible. (And think of them as your colleagues!) While you might not be long for this particular department, you might never know when they might be in a position to help you out. As I mentioned, I spent my first year as an instructor teaching in my doctoral program. While doing so, I found myself frequently chatting in the hallway with a faculty member with whom I had never had any classes or real interactions as a graduate student. We discussed particular students we had in common as well as approaches to teaching our materials. Later that year, she invited me to speak on an MLA panel that she had organized about teaching. Speaking at MLA is, as Ms. Mentor noted last week in a discussion of deciding which conferences to attend, a “top honor” in my field, and I wouldn’t have been accorded this honor if I (and she) hadn’t taken the chance to get to know a “temporary” colleague.
- You can have a voice: Again, it’s very easy to feel disconnected from your department when you are not a full-time member of the faculty. That being said, many schools do allow their adjuncts a voice in the governance process. I was welcome at every faculty meeting at Clemson, and I would have had an equal vote on any matters that did not relate to graduate education (since I was not graduate faculty). Every campus is different, but do not assume that your position as contingent labor means that you cannot contribute to shaping policies at your institution.
- Talk to your students about your position: Both years that I was contigent labor, I made sure to let my students know about my employment status. For one thing, I wanted to help them understand why I might not be as available for office hours as other faculty members. But I also feel like it’s useful for students to understand the structure of a university and the role that contingent labor plays. This might go double if you’re teaching at a public institution. I know from my own undergraduate days that I didn’t really have a sense of what it meant to be taught by graduate students or adjunct faculty, even though I had classes from both categories. Helping the student’s think critically about the structure of the institution to which they belong might seem too activist to some. But for me, I found it to be a liberating experience, and I believe that most—if not all—of my students found it to be an enlightening discussion.
- Prepare for your departure: If you’re contingent faculty, the chances are good that you will be leaving sooner rather than later. When this happens, you should do your best to take leave of your colleagues. Even more importantly, let your students know how to contact you in case they need letters of recommendation. Some students might even want to continue conversations begun in your class. Taking proper leave Doing this allows you to continue being a positive influence in your students’ life
For those of you who have been contingent faculty, what advice would you give others to help them make adjuncting as effective and fulfilling as possible? Let’s keep this thread positive while we’re at it.
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16 Responses to Six Ways to Make Adjuncting More Effective and Fulfilling
erictho - July 15, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Long-term adjunct here, with 10+years of full-time adjuncting under my belt, currently in a continuing temporary (!) position, with full benefits. Stay involved in your field: read the latest journals and books, write reviews and articles, attend the conferences and present papers. Remember that your worth as an academic is not based on the type of contract you have but rather on your contribution to your field, both as a teacher and as a researcher. Keep your research and your courses fresh. Get involved in your school’s governance: often the adjunct voice isn’t heard because the adjuncts don’t speak. Change will always be slow and it will have to be fought for, but a small benefit today can spiral into a larger one a few years down the road.
hleggett - July 15, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Hi. I’m an Adjunct English professor. Usually, I enjoy these articles very much, and I do understand that this is a blog rather than a presentation paper.However, I am writing to alert you that your copy editor is drunk.
briancroxall - July 15, 2010 at 11:09 pm
@erictho: Did you find that you were able to stay on top of your research and writing the first year that you were adjuncting? I felt I was so busy designing new classes that I didn’t have the time for it. But if I had taught again this year, I believe the time would have been there.@hleggett: It’s all my fault. I wasn’t drunk; just tired.
hleggett - July 16, 2010 at 12:35 am
Meh…sorry to be a schoolmarm…I’m tired as well.Beyond that, I can say that I think that all of the above is good advice. You’re dead on about the administrative staff and getting to know colleagues. In my second year at my current institution, I decided it was best to go ahead and get involved, so I joined a volunteer committee and helped resurrect the Phi Theta Kappa chapter at my community college. I kept office hours even though it was not contractually required, and thus developed a reputation as an accessible professor who is willing to support student initiatives and college enhancement. Those activities were fruitful; I got to know some colleagues and will leave a functioning honor society for the students when I go.On the down side, a couple of other adjuncts (and even one full-timer in my department whose involvement was rather thin) began to see me as a threat, and, in the end, these commitments did not save my position when the budget cuts came down from On High, so you are right to end your suggestions with “prepare for your departure.”Despite my troubles, I am job hunting again, but I have sterling recommendation letters and no small number of them to write for students I’ve helped (I even pulled a couple into my field–my the Gods forgive me!), so I wouldn’t go back and sit the bench, even though it didn’t work out this time.
dr_pdg - July 16, 2010 at 8:05 am
Hi ProfH and colleagues,I have been adjuncting now for over 15 years and have hit on an approach that works.I create classes that I first test in the marketplace through companies such as Marcus Evans. Once I have fine tuned them to the point where I consistently get rave reviews and have built up a reputation in private companies for the quality and effectiveness of my courses, I then take them to universities and negotiate an outsourcing deal, where I sell the entire package to the school at “fair market value” (Understanding that I am bringing with me a client base already) OR I simply negotiate with the university to offer college level credit for my courses on a per student basis, with me earning what the market will bear and the university charging a handling fee for issuing the credits and maintaining the paperwork. The nice thing about this “outsourcing” model is it serves as a means to feed students from taking one or two single courses into a full university program. So everyone wins. The students are assured of top quality courses which directly address the needs of their jobs or their companies; the university wins because they are able to make a profit on the issuance of credits which serves as a way to entice people to use my courses as the basis to join the universities programs, and I win by being able to charge what the market will bear for the courses PLUS I am getting real time feedback from companies (most of whom are paying the cost of the training) to ensure that what I am teaching has relevance to what their employees need in terms of building knowledge and competency.BUT, to be successful, you need to forget looking for a JOB and start to become extremely entrepreneurial.Best of luck.Dr. PDG, Jakarta, Indonesiahttp://www.build-project-management-competency.com
me_malarcher - July 16, 2010 at 8:39 am
It is hard to read anything about this attitude of adjunct or tenure instructors without thinking “doesn’t anyone in higher education practice good management skills?” Who decided that educational institutions are immune to managing people in order to produce a product, similar to those who provide a service or build bridges?It is completely bizarre to me how any institution can think “pretentiousness” is a part of the formula for a successful and productive endeavor. If “team work” is not in the vocabulary of the individuals on the “organizational chart” of a university then there should not be any surprise for the break down and disappointment in the results of what students get out of their education.If any other company managed their business and employees like the conversations regarding how adjunct or tenure instructors are treated it would probably not last 6 months. And, what kind of produce would it produce? Would it be anything you trusted or worth having?I guess the origin of tenure had a very serious start for scholars, so they would feel free to practice and research their knowledge without prejudice of government or possibly religion. I know someone will tell me why they invented tenure.Everything I read in this article or any article about adjuncts is always disturbing. I know they probably have a Business Administration Department on campus, so what are they teaching?If it is important I do teach in a university, as an adjunct and now faculty.
briancroxall - July 16, 2010 at 9:02 am
@hleggett: Sorry to hear that you’re on the hunt again. It happens more often than it should to all of us. I’m glad to hear that you feel like the contribution to the community was worth your time investment.@dr_pdg: This definitely looks like a model outside the norm for academics here in the United States. Do you mostly teach business classes?@me_malarcher: I’m not sure that I follow how your comment relates to my original post. Do you have any advice from your own experiences adjuncting that you can share?
erictho - July 16, 2010 at 11:03 am
@brian: In my first few years, yes, I did keep up on the research a bit (mostly a yearly conference paper, or a book review) but only in the past few years have I really gotten back into the research front. This is because of a concerted effort on my part, much needed encouragement from friends and mentors, and because I’ve been teaching the same courses for years so they only need moderate tweaking each time through rather than writing from scratch. I do hope to write and teach myself into a tenure-track job someday.
hadvisor - July 16, 2010 at 11:09 am
Though I do not fundamentally disagree with any of your suggestions, it seems to me that several of them apply mainly to those adjuncts serving only one institution. Though I no longer teach, over the seven years I was an adjunct I served multiple institutions during any given term. Usually, I taught at three institutions in three separate municipalities over all 12 months of the year. The reasons for this were as follows: only one institution ever assigned more than two classes a term to any adjunct (this was the lowest-paying institution, at 1200 gross per 3-credit hour section), and the range of pay was astounding (1200 to 2600 gross per 3-credit hour section). I traveled between 1.5 and 2.5 hours, one way, to each institution, often leaving home at 5:15am to make my first teaching assignment a day and often returning home at between 7 and 11pm from my last teaching assignment. Office hours and required meetings fell in this time frame, but not the bulk of prep or much if any grading (some grading did take place on city buses and city/suburban trains, when I wasn’t catnapping). Nearly all prep and grading was reserved for the weekend, though if I got in before 9pm it was also fit into nightly activities.In my life, there was no time to become involved with the institution or department beyond what was required. I know I was not alone, in my situation. No doubt there are others still living that way, among adjuncts. All that made my time as an adjunct better was engaging with the material I taught and throwing all of myself into my classes, fully enjoying the students in my classes while we were there and during my office hours. I really loved what I was doing, though in the end it took a huge toll on my health to keep going full steam ahead for so long on so little sleep. This is why I ultimately switched gears and went into academic advising four years ago. I didn’t fall out of love with teaching (I still miss it, sometimes terribly); I simply couldn’t take the rigors of living as an adjunct any more.
wilkenslibrary - July 16, 2010 at 12:16 pm
I’m conflicted about the advice offered here. Like many contingent faculty, I teach at night, so when I come in, there are generally no full-time colleagues, no administrative staff, and often no other contingent faculty visible. I did attend department meetings for years, and sometimes still do, if there are issues directly applicable to my ESL students that I feel nobody else will be able to address adequately. Going to those meetings, I made friends with many folks who are on campus during the day, but until we are paid for our time, I cannot advise my contingent colleagues to donate their expertise for free. From what I have observed, only rarely are contingent faculty “rewarded” with a full-time position as a result of their service to a department or a college. The old saw about getting the milk for free is unfortunately all too true.
erictho - July 16, 2010 at 12:30 pm
@wilkenslibrary: Yes, there is that problem of unpaid service for adjuncts (who, unlike full-time faculty, don’t have a service component expected of their job). But, I take the view that right now, there really is no incentive for administration to change how adjuncts are treated because for them (the admin) the system is working; the only way change is going to come about, and it will not come about quickly, is for adjuncts to keep raising the issues publicly through involvement and a voice and a vote in governance. With luck, the volunteer efforts of some of us will, eventually, improve the lot for all of us.
adjunctivitis - July 16, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I like Beginning with the End in Mind, to paraphrase Steven Covey. I wholeheartedly agree that one must plan for one’s own departure. So, yes, as an adjunct I immediately ask myself, “what can I get out of this place before this little job ends?” Here are some tried-and-true answers:1. By all means, join an academic committee — preferably curriculum development. Find out which courses are up for review, and then request all relevant textbooks from publishers. It’s amazing how quickly they will send desk copies when you address them to your attention and then use “curriculum review committee” as the next address line. By all means, review the copies, but then sell the books back to the highest bidder. Ka-Ching! Thirty books @ $100 each = $3,000 *tax free.* That’s more than most places pay for a class and goes a long way in paying for health insurance. 2. Be nice to the admin staff. They are your source for free toner and office supplies.3. Talk to your students about your position. Let them know that you deeply care — far more than the full time faculty do. Ask them to review the course schedule for next semester and try to find how many full time faculty teach “intensive writing” courses. The answer is invariably few. (Please no reply posts about how your university is the exception to the rule and tenured faculty thrives on reading remedial freshman essays in a wonderland of intellectual stimulation.) Tell them that few people will ever read anything they write. As evidence? They’re taking out thousands of dollars in loans to PAY people to read their work, and they can’t even get full time workers to read their stuff. The looks on their faces will be HILARIOUS!4. Get to know colleagues. Get to know their copier codes. Get to know how to get licensed versions of software for your own use. 5. You CAN have a voice. I buy my own health insurance and constantly rave how much better it is than their lame HMO. 6. Contribute something to your program. I bring in expired donuts and am a hero.7. Frequently say “no” to requests, especially for student letters of recommendation. How can I offer a positive recommendation if the department chair chronically moans that NONE of their students can write? The exception to this rule is if a student is attempting to transfer out — then write a glowing letter and be sure to tell the whole department of your efforts to get the student to leave.8. Constantly tell everyone how lucky they are to have you. If you don’t believe it, then they won’t.
hleggett - July 16, 2010 at 6:58 pm
[Comment deleted by editor. Please stick to the topic of discussion: "For those of you who have been contingent faculty, what advice would you give others to help them make adjuncting as effective and fulfilling as possible?" You might also take a moment to read the ProfHacker "Commenting and Community Guidelines." Thanks!]
rickw - July 17, 2010 at 8:50 pm
[Comment deleted by editor. Please stick to the topic of discussion: "For those of you who have been contingent faculty, what advice would you give others to help them make adjuncting as effective and fulfilling as possible?" Thanks!]
delaur - August 1, 2010 at 10:26 am
:-)
delaur - August 1, 2010 at 10:47 am
Sorry about that smiley (above); I didn’t remember if I was registered on this board by my real name or a pseudonym. That little trick allowed me to check.I’m a composition drudge at two (sometimes three) universities and I teach an online class, too–for a 4th school! Every day I need to check several email addresses on various servers, work with several different course management systems, remember multiple policies for plagiarism, absences, and grading. And some days I get in my car and forget which way to turn. I am quite the charmer who gets to know her students, her colleagues, and support staff. I’m involved, I’m nice to everyone, and gosh darn it, I contribute a lot more than the occasional letterhead. And yes, by doing this I get more classes assigned to me. (BTW, I’ve got a LOT of names to remember.) Oh, I forgot–I get awesome evaluations, both from students and the full-time faculty who have observed my teaching.After two years, I finally have realized that all this schmoozing will never get me 1) a full time position or 2) health insurance. I’d appreciate an article that provides me with ways to keep my sanity and do less work. Perhaps, something like “How to comment on a student paper in 30 seconds or less,” or “How to keep your cool when a student turns in a paper criticizing ‘Obamacare’ as socialized medicine.” Thank you.