Do Adjuncts Need a New Attitude?
Thursday, August 2, at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, 5 p.m. Greenwich Mean TimeIf adjuncts stop complaining and start thinking like entrepreneurs, can they improve their careers? How can adjuncts adopt an attitude that will help them?
Many adjunct faculty members complain that they are treated miserably by the colleges that employ them, with low wages, minimal job security, and little time for the life of the mind. Unions are organizing adjunct faculty members, and many faculty groups have made it a priority to push for the creation of more full-time, tenure-track positions. But a new guide, How to Survive as an Adjunct Lecturer: An Entrepreneurial Strategy Manual, says that what adjuncts really need is a new attitude. If they start acting like businesspeople selling a product, and plan accordingly, they can find good work, make good money, become respected college teachers, and enjoy more variety and flexibility than people in full-time faculty positions, the manual argues.
» Jill Carroll, a Proud Part-Timer, Thinks Many Adjuncts Need a New Attitude (8/3/2001)
Jill Carroll, the author of the new manual, holds a doctorate in religious studies from Rice University. She earns more than $50,000 a year by teaching in religion, philosophy, and the humanities at Rice and the University of Houston. This fall, Rowman & Littlefield will publish her book, Savage Side: Reclaiming Violent Models of God. She is also working on a second publication for adjuncts, in which she hopes to apply Machiavelli's ideas to their situation. Ms. Carroll will respond to comments and questions about adjunct faculty members on Thursday, August 2, at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, 5 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Advance questions are encouraged and may be posted now.
Scott Smallwood (Moderator):
Welcome to Colloquy Live, The Chronicle's online chat forum. Today's guest is Jill Carroll, who teaches as an adjunct instructor at three Houston-area universities. She's earned more than $50,000 a year teaching 12 college courses and several continuing-education classes. And she's written a self-published "survival" manual that encourages adjuncts to employ an entrepreneurial strategy and think of themselves as freelancers with a product to sell.
Any opening comments, Jill?
Jill Carroll:
I'm glad to be "here" today. I'm eager to talk about one of my favorite things: how adjuncts can make more money! I consider myself an advocate for adjuncts and wrote my manual as a guide to help those so inclined to think more creatively and strategically about their careers. I myself live by the principles in the manual and I truly believe that many more adjuncts in America can benefit from trying out some of these methods. For more information about my manual (including how to order it), go to www.adjunctsolutions.com.
Scott Smallwood (Moderator):
Let's get started. We've already received quite a few early submissions, but we're ready to accept more questions now. If you don't have a question, but would like to make a comment, just send it in. We'll try to get it posted as soon as possible.
Question from James Coley, UNC-Chapel Hill:
Is Ms. Carroll really being fair to adjuncts? While in some cases adjuncts create their own problems, and may just need a new attitude, it is outrageous to suggest that this characterizes all adjunct experiences. (Talk about blaming the victim!) There is a genuine lack of collegiality and respect for adjuncts in many institutions. At one institution where I had a full-time temporary position, despite my numerous requests, my teaching was never observed in the classroom. My teaching evaluations were ignored, and I was not re-hired for purely political reasons. I was an "entrepreneur" with a positive attitude who got excellent evaluations, but this meant nothing in an environment in which adjuncts were not even considered faculty. Two part-timers and I were even kicked out of the room at a departmental faculty meeting, and I found my office, which was not needed immediately, emptied of my belongings by the spiteful department chair at the end of the term. Does Ms. Carroll assume that this was all somehow my fault?
Jill Carroll:
Jeez! It sounds like you had a horrible situation there with a bunch of terrible people. Nowhere in my manual do I suggest - nor would I ever suggest to you - that the kinds of problems often faced by adjuncts are their own fault. I simply say that instead of focusing all our attention on the less-than-desirable situation we all already know many adjuncts face, let's instead focus on how we might begin to deal with that situation, short of changing it altogether (which is slow, systemic change). So count yourself among the throngs of faculty, both full and part-time, who have been screwed for "purely political reasons" and move on down the road. Find clients who will appreciate your talents, positive attitude and teaching skills. The worst thing you could do, perhaps, would be to let this bad experience drive you out of the profession.
Question from Margot Miller, Visiting Instructor, Hood College:
I recently earned a mid-life PhD in French Literature and am going on the job market this fall, albeit without a lot of hope, but I have also had it in mind to become a "locum tenens professora." My question is this: How do you go about advertising yourself? Direct mailings to colleges and universities? And is it kosher to go on the tenure-track job market at the same time?
Jill Carroll:
Yes, I would say apply for any and every job your see, tenured or not. As far as advertising, get on the phone, make contacts with incividual hiring institutions in your area, and find out who their hiring administrators are. Individual contact is the best. And keep at it until they hire you or tell you to go away. Additional note to Margot: Thank you for buying the manual!
Question from Lorianne, various New England colleges:
After teaching part-time at various schools in New England, in the fall I'll be teaching "full-time" at a state college. Since this school hires adjuncts on a semester-by-semester basis, full-timers are considered temporary hires and thus aren't eligible for benefits such as health insurance. How do other adjuncts deal with the problem of working full-time without the usual full-time perks?
Jill Carroll:
Adjuncts have to do what all other freelance or self-employed persons do for benefits: arrange for them themselves. The important thing to realize is that we adjuncts are not alone in this -- hundreds of thousands of Americans provide their own health insurance benefits as freelancers, consultants, etc. These folks think -- and I agree with them -- that the longterm advantages of running your own show far outweigh the more immediate and tangible benefits like employer-paid insurance. So, get on the web and shop around for a policy that meets your needs and your budget. As I say in the last chapter of the manual, a low-cost major medical policy may work for now until you build up your income and can afford a more comprehensive plan. I got a great policy through a broker once, a few years ago, for about $120 a month. The same goes for retirement benefits. Plan them yourself. For as little as $25-$50 a month, you can start saving for retirement with some of the biggest financial management names in the business.
Question from Dr. Klara Lutsky, Centenary College, New Jersey, small private college:
I was greatly inspired by your unconventional approach to adjuncting. How big are your classes? I find it more and more difficult to teach 17 classes a year if some are above 20 students.
Jill Carroll:
That's so true, especially if they're writing courses. My classes range from 20 to 45 students. Admittedly, it's easier with lower numbers.
Question from Bob Gracie, several community colleges:
My attitude is fine, it's the pay that's no good. How can I get paid more? Other adjuncts are being paid more per class than I am (much like yourself). Help.
Jill Carroll:
The secret to making more money in this business is to actively seek out the clients that you know pay more than the others. If a private institution in your area pays $5,000 per class, and you only get $1,500 per class at a community college, then actively cultivate that private university. It's a simple as that. It may take time, because often the private universities don't hire as many adjuncts, but in the long run you can gradually raise your earnings bit by bit. That's a great attitude!
Question from anonymous:
I have lots of ideas for courses that I would like to teach. How do I "sell" these ideas and get to teach these courses?
Jill Carroll:
If you're just starting out, your odds of success in getting hired will not be to tell them what you want to teach, but to tell them you can teach what they need. So teach what they need first, then, as you succeed for them, ask if you can teach what you want. They're more likely to let you "sell" them these new courses if you already have a track record with them.
Question from Rich, teaches at a large state college:
What's wrong with complaining? It's not necessarily rational to accept or adjust to unjust conditions. Doesn't that too have its psychological consequences? To be unhappy is sometimes a spur to take action to change things. Why is it irrational or pathological whining for an adjunct not to want to teach ten courses at several different locations and to want fair and equal treatment for his or her work?
Jill Carroll:
Nowhere do I suggest being in denial about the conditions of adjunct work. I merely suggest, as you do, that we must now act. If that action involves political protest, unionization, collective bargaining, fine. Until that happens, though, you have bills to pay, and this entrepreneurial approach can tide you over until the revolution comes. Never do I suggest that there's nothing to whine about. You just have to move past that into something creative and active.
Question from Rachel Sutz, itinerant adjunct:
I admit it: I earned almost 40K last year as an adjunct at two state universities and one community college and I am still ABD. But, how stable can this lifestyle really be? Can Jill Carroll depend on 50K every year?
Jill Carroll:
Good question. Nobody can depend on stable employment in America, at least except for tenured faculty and Supreme Court justices. You've clearly earned your place and your salary from excellent performance, and as long as they need excellent performance, they will hire you. So ride the wave, and if you can, cultivate a few more isolated clients here and there to back you up in case you fall through.
Question from Martha Stoodley, Connors State College, Oklahoma:
Thinking like an entrepreneur and making money are half the motivational requirement for succeeding as an adjunct. When I was an adjunct the other half of worklife was missing: collegial relationships. How can the social-needs problem be resolved to bring a more wholistic form of job satisfaction to adjunct work?
Jill Carroll:
Good question, Martha. In my own experience, I've done two things that have helped me build collegial relations in my institutions.
First, I've taken initiative in contacting those faculty who interest me the most. The most successful way of doing this is to ask their opinion of something (a textbook, a syllabus issue, whatever). They feel honored and are more likely to respond back - then I go from there - stop by their office, do coffee, etc. just like building any other kind of relationship.
Second, I've sometimes chosen to park myself in office hours longer than necessary -- in a central location, say, in the middle of an office suite or something, near the mail boxes maybe -- just to be there. I grade papers, or
prepare for class and then meet the other faculty as they come in and out. It's all about inserting yourself into the daily process. It takes longer, I think, as an adjunct, but it can be done, especially at those institutions
that become your "regulars", that is, you teach for them regularly semester after semester.
Question from Steve Hickoff, Univ. System of New Hampshire:
This year, I'll teach 13 USNH adjunct writing/humanities sections (in addition to publishing 60+ magazine/newspaper articles. Students often perceive me as "full-time faculty," demanding individual time outside of class -- phone calls, e-mails, etc. -- for work covered during intensive classroom sessions. How can one satisfy the student customer who demands more of the adjunct than the adjunct can ultimately offer?
Jill Carroll:
I too have this problem at times. I have had some success at managing it by converting much of my students' correspondence into email. This does two things: it allows me to respond to the student in a way that suits my daily schedule, and it usually allows me to respond in a more in-depth way through writing to the student's needs. Short of that, even the most exacting of office-hour protocols don't require that you never say "no" to students. Don't be afraid to set boundaries.
Comment from Ronald R. harris, MA, LPC, NCC; Pueblo Community College:
The concept of small businesses is an interesting topic as well as stance for educators to take. I teach P/T as a professor of Psychology and Sociology and I also run a private professional counseling business. I work under contract per semester at the community college level while I'm pursuing my Ph.D. I think that the X generational stance of entrepreneurialship is a good one to assume. The concept is based on American values of enterprise and creativity. A good living can be made by all if this is an attitude because of low overhead and complete autonomy.
Question from Jack Scissorbill, Whatsamatta U:
There's nothing good about being an adjunk. Nothing. This isn't "complaining," it's reality. Is getting us to think like "entrepreneurs" pure [garbage]? And does it mean you're a corporate snake in the grass?
Jill Carroll:
I don't know about being a "corporate snake in the grass," but I certainly don't think the entrepreneurial mindset is "garbage." I live quite well because of it, as do millions of other Americans. Yes, reality sucks, but you have to take steps to change your reality.
Comment from John Doe, Texas:
I'm impressed that there are two types of adjuncts. (1) Those without connections and in overcrowded fields -- and that have absolutely no leverage at all -- exerting leverage just gets them terminated. (2) Those with social connections and with skills to teach classes that are in demand and that lack significant competition -- those adjuncts have some leverage. Most of what I see and hear and come in contact with seems to be the ones in demand telling the ones who are fungible to grow up (this would be kind of like the gals in business, where there are 9 jobs for every 7 applicants, telling the guys with MFAs with one job per 100 applicants, that they just need an attitude change to solve all their problems). On the other hand, to succeed as an adjunct, you need to be charismatic, charming and positive -- and attitude is a significant part of that. By just changing your attitude you can sometimes break out of the pack. But ...
Question from Richard Moser, AAUP:
By encouraging entrepreneurial values are you not contributing to the erosion of academic freedom and quality education? If hundreds of thousands of faculty around the country begin to reorganize and tailor the content of there course to suit market demands and if the customer is always right, as entrepreneurial values suggests, then what is to stop controversial and disturbing subjects from being marginalized or students from displacing teachers as the arbiters of what kinds of learning experiences and accomplishments constitute quality education?
Jill Carroll:
I don't think I'm the first to suggest that entrepreneurial values have a place in higher education. Colleges and universities across America have run themselves as corporate entities for decades. And in those decades we've seen tremendous diversity and richness in curricula. So I don't think that suggests that entrepreneurship and academic freedom are entirely at odds. Beyond that, you know, I'm just trying to make a living.
Question from anonymous:
Although I teach several classes and outrank some instructors on campus (I have a PhD) I can't even get shared office space on campus, meaning I have to lug all my teaching materials around with me. Any thoughts on leverage I could use to convince the school to find me a corner somewhere to call my own?
Jill Carroll:
My experience in colleges and universities is that the real day-to-day power is held by the office administrators, secretaries or otherwise. So ask them if in the office area there's a spare shelf, or a locker, or some spare desk somewhere that you might use. Chances are that if you bring them a cup of coffee, they'll do it for you. Short of that, get one of those briefcases on wheels.
Question from Dom, various PA colleges:
The colleges at which I work pay adjuncts a set amount, usually no more than $2000 per course, often much less. How can I "sell" my courses to these institutions for more money? If I'm not willing to teach for low pay, my chairs have lists of other adjuncts to call. How can I bargain effectively in these circumstances?
Jill Carroll:
Chances are, they're not going to pay you more and others less. Your best bet is to seek out higher-paying clients. Keep the ones you have until you can replace them with clients who have a higher fee. When your current clients see that you are de-prioritizing them for higher-paying clients, that in itself may prompt them to come up with more money for you, or at least prompt them to offer you other perks which would make your life with them easier.
Comment from Dr. Jack Cushman:
I agree that adjuncts need need vision. I laughed at being viewed as a low-level employee in the university environment. I took my skills as a PhD coupled with previous experience and within one year I was bringing in 80K with a great 8-5 M-F schedule. Higher Ed is great, but its certainly not the only great place to make a difference and have a good standard of living.
Question from Dr. Patrick Jung, Marquette University:
I am also an "entrepreneurial adjunct" for two institutions, although I also have a full-time job in educational development. I am given hard, mean looks by tenure-track faculty members when they learn that I am a permanent adjunct who has no plans to pursue a tenure track position. They seem to think that I am part of the problem in higher education: the growing number of adjuncts. They seem to think that this problem will go away if the people who fill them would disappear. Do get similar treatment from your tenure track colleagues? Do you think people like us are part of the problem or are we part of the solution?
Jill Carroll:
Obviously we're part of the solution or we wouldn't be hired in such great numbers. I don't receive negative treatment from my full-time colleagues, primarily because I have cultivated clients who appreciate me. But I have received negative treatment in the past, and you have to deal with it the same way you deal with all rude people: just blow them off and don't stoop to their smallness.
Question from James Coley, Chapel Hill:
Thanks for your response. I have indeed moved "on down the road." But do you believe that adjuncts in uncollegial departments should focus entirely on their own success and forego opportunities to protest and work for change in their unfair circumstances?
Jill Carroll:
Of course not. Do it all with gusto. And I'm glad you've "moved on down the road" from those horrible people. They don't deserve you.
Question from Larry Kaye, Univ-MA-Boston also an actvist in Boston COCAL:
The problem I see with the "entrepreneural" approach is that it pits you against other adjuncts/job seekers. That's not activism, that's what has helped created the present deplorable situation--countless isolated job-seekers who believe they can "get lucky" on the market, while in reality only a small number can. Activism involves unifying with your fellow adjuncts to produce a base of power and security that can't be easily dismissed or ignored. In the last 5 years I've been able to double my salary and get full benefits, but only through militant group (union) activism--many others have shared in my gains. So my question is, isn't there an inherent contradiction in your position--are you an isolated entrepreneur or a unifying activist?
Jill Carroll:
I think there's a lot of ways to be an activist. Your way has clearly worked for you; you've doubled your income and helped others in the process. Congratulations! My way has worked for me and for countless others too, so you have to do what works for you. As for "pitting" people against others for job positions, welcome to America.
Question from Brian Caterino:
Why should we take your personal experinces in academia as instructive? What evidence can you cite to support the view that such a solution is a viable general solution? What conception of the social and economic dynamics of academic employment could justify your personal solution as an effective general one?
Jill Carroll:
My solution works for me because it is built upon tried-and-true entrepreneurial methods that have existed in the country as long as it has been here. Secondly, I am one of 400,000 adjuncts working in this country, and I am not the only one of those 400,000 working in a market with multiple higher education venues. So: entrepreneurial methods + market potential = small business success potential. If my methods don't work for you, try something else.
Question from Charis, urban community college:
It is fairly safe to assume that the largest employers of adjunct faculty are the English departments in which adjuncts teach almost all of the developmental and basic writing courses. How could a serious English teacher teach PROPERLY six or more English classes per semester -- with all the grading of essays involved-- in order to get even a reasonable annual income?
Jill Carroll:
Good question. You can't do it at first when you are a new, inexperienced instructor. You will have to tighten your belt and suffer through low earnings for those first several semesters until you conquer the steep learning curve of teaching. With experience, though, this gets easier, and you'll slowly be able to handle a heavier load with quality. But you're right: you can't compromise your quality.
Scott Smallwood (Moderator):
Here's your half-time notice. Keep sending those questions in.
Question from Kris Bickell, Teikyo Post University:
I am a relatively new adjunct, and am looking to teach more online classes (due to kids, long hours at work, etc.) What is the best way to market myself? I have taught one online class already, and have signed up at some websites, like adjunctopia.com, and would like to know the best way to get my foot in the door to teach online at other schools? Thanks.
Jill Carroll:
Online teaching is a new frontier for me as well. I have very little experience in it. What I havfe recently come upon are several ads in, for example, recent issues of the magazine Adjunct Advocate as wanting online adjuncts. So perhaps you could search those out. NB: adjunctnation.com has a link to Adjunct Advocate
Question from Roger, Big 10 college:
Healthy attitude is a nice thing, but how can adjuncts expect to raise families, buy houses and plan for retirement without the security blanket that comes with full-time employment?
Jill Carroll:
You do it the same way hundreds of thousands of freelance and self-employed Americans do it year in and year out: you do it yourself. I just bought a house two weeks ago. My spouse and I make the same money, and we have a six-figure household income. neither of us has retirement plans or insurance plans from our employers. We simply do it ourselves.
Comment from jim:
I am not in this in order to make money. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have left my nightmare six figure job. I am doing this to make a difference in the lives of my students--all else is commentary. By the way, I teach 11 courses a year and make about $45k. I guess, from the comments, that's good.
Question from Roger, Big 10 university:
Do you ever see adjuncts parlaying their P/T teaching jobs for several different schools at a university into a full-time position, with benefits being shared between the schools?
Jill Carroll:
I wish more institutions would do this. I, for example, have taught at three different campuses in the University of Houston system. I wish they would have considered the total number of my courses as grounds for conferring benefits, rather than maintaining separate identities. But again, that is the kind of systemic institutional change that is very hard to bring about. And that's why those pushing for collective bargaining and such are important.
Comment from E Graig, Former Adjunct:
The notion of an adjunct as an entreprenuer is outrageous. It focuses the question of adjuncting on the adjunct and the adjunct only. In a system where everyone is an adjunct (which I suspect our guest would have no problem with)institutions would be run by business people and not faculty. Perhaps this is fine for a community college where the focus is on training (small t) as opposed to learning (large L) but at a four year school it is nothing short of subversive. Curriculum would be decided along the lines of a popularity contest and the focus would be on keeping students happy as opposed to educated. Doesn't the Chronicle have better discussions to sponsor?
Question from P.D. Lesko, Publisher, The Adjunct Advocate:
Do you think such a strategy could apply to 490,000 people (all adjuncts)?
Jill Carroll:
No. As I say in the manual, it applies only to those whose background and inclination make them comfortable with a freelance model of employment. It also applies only to those who build their practice in a viable market. A typical college town with only one higher education venue is not going to work. Just like any other small business, you have to find a good market.
Question from James Coley, Chapel Hill:
It seems you want to have it both ways. It is all well and good to acknowledge that there are indeed nasty, uncollegial folks out there who are quite happy to exploit adjuncts, and to say that activism to change things is okay. But by using phrases like "adjuncts just need a new attitude" you appear to ignore in the initial presentation of your views the very same problems you acknowledge when questioned. It seems that you want to tell adjuncts that "you are in control of your fate, and good work will be rewarded" but that you also want to be able to admit that those claims are in fact often false out here in the real world.
Jill Carroll:
I'm not sure what you mean by "having it both ways," but I will affirm that activism on the one hand, and the entrepreneurial approach on the other, are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I do them both.
Question from Margot Miller:
Is it possible that tenure track positions will eventually disappear and all higher ed profs will be at-will contractors?
Jill Carroll:
In this world, all things are possible. What seems closer on the horizon, perhaps, is a division of labor in higher education between teaching faculty and research faculty. That division is alreadly implicitly iin place, but the adjunct situation in this new higher education economy may very well make that division more explicit and official.
Question from Anonymous, Several community colleges:
As a former full-time professor of business administration, and recent adjunct instructor at four Southern California colleges within the past year alone, I agree that many adjuncts are treated as inferiors, among equals. Why do you think this is so, and how do we efficiently and effectively change this paradigm?
Jill Carroll:
There is a long-standing prejudice in academia against adjuncts based on the assumption that if you're an adjunct, it's because you're not good enough to be full-time. I'm not sure this was ever completely true, but it's certainly not true now in the new higher education economy. People are adjuncts for lots of reasons, not least of which is that many universities and colleges eliminate full-time jobs in favor of adjunct jobs. So, I think only continued excellence in teaching and scholarship on the part of individual adjuncts will slowly but surely chip away at this ridiculous prejudice. What infuriates me is when I see traces of this prejudice lurking within the full-time faculty who claim to be advocates of adjuncts, but that's another problem.
Question from Marc Randall, Rutgers University:
Adjuncts are already "acting like businesspeople selling a product" -- their numbers have simply reduced the value of product to mere commodity value. In the face of this, only adjuncts who are willing to do more for less thrive. But do we really want to send the message to undergraduates that the more educated you become, the smaller your economic rewards? Since when is the "business model" the only (and best) one to follow for education?
Jill Carroll:
I don't think adjuncts alone send the message that the more educated you are, the less money you make. Undergraduates in engineering, biotechnology, and myriad other fields merely have to look down the hall of the philosophy, language, history or English departments of any university to see that Ph.D.s in any of these fields rarely earn what many undergrads will earn within five years of getting a bachelor's.
And no, I don't think the business model is the only one that can succeed. It's one of many. You just have to find what works for you.
Question from Laura , now at a state university:
From the comments and my experiences, it appears that public colleges and community colleges ($1,700 per course) pay the least, private colleges most ($5,000 per course). In general, what other types of institutions pay well which we might not think of?
Jill Carroll:
I have found that countinuing education venues can pay quite well, at least in terms of pay vs. time commitment. I explain in my manual that at the continuing education venues that I service, I make $30-$50 an hour. The classes do not last all semester, but they help punch up my semester's earnings. And since I teach courses at these venues that I've already taught at many times, the time commitment is minimal. So I suggest seeking some of those out. Plus they're a lot of fun.
Scott Smallwood (Moderator):
That's all the time we have today. Thanks for all of the questions. I'd like to also thank Jill for being our guest today.
Jill Carroll:
This was fun! I appreciate so many of the good questions and comments, and I have so much more food for thought now, I may have to go back and write another manual. Please keep thinking about ways in which all of us can work to improve our own individual adjunct lives as well as the general higher education situation. There are lots of ways to be successful in this career. I simply offer this one as one more way in the labyrinth. If it works for you, go for it. If it doesn't, go for something else. Good luck either way!
Scott Smallwood (Moderator):
A transcript of the chat will be posted on The Chronicle web site shortly.
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