A Chair's Guide to Adjuncts

Abstract

Adjunct instructors are essential to higher education because they provide critical instructional support, offer industry experience, and help reduce institutions' expenses. According to an American Association of University Professors' report, approximately 48 percent of faculty members in US colleges and universities were employed part time in fall 2021 (Colby 2023, 2). As a result, one of the roles for a department chair has become to foster an adjunct culture that is rewarding, inclusive, communicative, and fair, despite institutional limitations. We present two perspectives for best practices in hiring and retaining adjunct instructors.

Manyiu Tse is in his sixth year as chair of the mathematics and computer science department at Molloy University. Molloy is a medium-size Roman Catholic university located in Rockville Centre, New York. Approximately 72 percent of the faculty at Molloy are adjuncts. His department offers, on average, 70 to 100 sections per academic year. These sections are taught by 6 full-time faculty (including the chair) and between 14 and 16 adjunct instructors.

Evelina Lapierre is in her seventh year as chair of the mathematics department at Johnson & Wales University (JWU) at the Providence campus. JWU is a medium-size private teaching-focused university with two campuses: one in Providence, Rhode Island, and the other in Charlotte, North Carolina. Approximately 48 percent of the faculty at JWU are adjuncts. The Providence mathematics department offers between 100 and 110 sections per academic year. These sections are taught by 5 full-time faculty (including the chair), 4 lecturers, and between 8 and 11 adjunct instructors.

Searching for and hiring adjuncts is different from searching for and hiring full-time faculty members, since there is more emphasis on teaching and less on research and university service. At Molloy, most math adjuncts are either retired high school teachers or recent graduates with a master's degree. Molloy has an extensive network of local math educators to draw from. Adjuncts also come from other departments at Molloy, alumni, and referrals from colleagues.

The math department at JWU keeps their online application perpetually open because they hire year-round. Final year graduate students or newly awarded master's degree students from local research universities can make great candidates. JWU also uses adjuncts and full-time faculty from other departments on campus (science, social sciences, and business).

It is important that newly hired adjuncts go through proper onboarding and mentoring to ensure that they feel welcomed in the role and understand the expectations. The Faculty Professional Center at Molloy holds a new faculty orientation before the start of the academic year. New faculty gain access to resources and support services that include technical support and professional development. The chair gives adjuncts a campus tour and provides them with course syllabi templates and textbooks. Because the department is small, the chair informally mentors adjuncts by fostering a supportive and open environment and actively advocates for them.

The math department at JWU takes a hands-on approach. It has a well-established professor/adjunct mentoring program. The mentor gives advice, shares course materials, monitors the adjunct's course page, and performs a classroom observation every other year. The department keeps an online repository that houses departmental meeting agendas, recordings and minutes, departmental final exams, course syllabi templates, sample personalized syllabi, suggested weekly course schedules, and low- and high-stakes assessments for all core courses. Adjuncts are invited to departmental meetings.

If any of the scores are one standard deviation below the departmental mean, then the chair will begin a conversation with the adjunct about teaching and learning, providing them with tools that can be used to improve instruction and student engagement.

All student complaints are directed to the chair as the first point of escalation. Misunderstandings between faculty and students include grading criteria, tone in emails or feedback, and academic integrity concerns. Regardless of the type of complaint, the chair gathers information from the student and instructor and then prepares an action plan. The action plan may involve a classroom observation, mediation between the student and the instructor, and, in rare circumstances, escalation to the dean.

Student complaints at JWU are handled by the chair, and the process is the same regardless of the instructor's rank. The student must meet with the chair to identify specific action points. The chair then meets with the faculty member and sets goals based on these points. After two weeks, a classroom observation is conducted by the mentor or the chair.

To retain adjuncts, we must understand why they leave. Sometimes it's financial. According to a 2022 report published by the American Federation of Teachers, 43 percent of contingent faculty (adjunct and full-time, nontenure-track faculty, instructors, lecturers, and graduate employees) make less than $3,500 per course, with nearly 28 percent earning less than $26,500 a year. Sometimes they find full-time work. This same report found that 63 percent of the respondents want to work full time but are offered only part-time work.

At Molloy, adjuncts can make between $3,300 to $3,600 per course. Clearly, this would not be sustainable, especially in Long Island, New York. Some adjuncts teach at other local institutions, in particular, the community colleges. However, many adjuncts have been with Molloy for more than fifteen years. Common reasons as to their longevity include teaching as a means to reconnect with students, a feeling of connectedness with the department via social events, and fostering an inclusive environment by involving them in curriculum review of introductory courses and assisting with high school observations of Molloy-equivalent classes. Moreover, adjuncts are acknowledged for their years of service and are given the opportunity for promotion.

Because many adjuncts have multiple jobs, scheduling can be difficult for them. The teaching schedule is completed and shared with faculty early (the fall schedule is prepared in March, and the spring schedule is prepared in April). Adjunct faculty are usually offered two back-to-back sections. They are assigned their preferred courses during their preferred times (as indicated in a survey they fill out every year).

Adjuncts play an essential role in higher education. Despite the limited pay, they are dedicated educators. As much as there are solutions in shifting the adjunct culture to a more inclusive academic community, change is often a complex institutional process, bound by factors such as budget constraints, institutional inertia, and lack of voice. However, at the department level, supportive chairs can transform an adjunct's experience without changing institutional policy.

This article is based on a presentation at the Academic Chairperson Conference, February 5–7, 2025, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Manyiu Tse is associate professor and chair of the mathematics and computer science department at Molloy University. Evelina Lapierre is professor and chair of the mathematics department at Johnson & Wales University, Providence campus. Email: [email protected], [email protected]