An Adjunct Faculty Member Gets Dis-Oriented

One ongoing concern about the treatment of contingent faculty at our colleges and universities (in addition to those little things like pay, benefits and job security)is how little professional support they receive from institutions.  It is typically minimal at best, and rarely ongoing.  Take for instance this adjunct faculty member's description of his college's faculty orientation (if that is what you can call a two-hour session).

[I]t was two of the most worthless hours of my life that I want back. 

I don't know what it is about school faculty orientations, but every one of these things I've ever attended they've been nothing but worthless general/generic information slapped together into really unspecific Power Point presentations that only give information about the obvious, and leave the specific details up to the individual to find out.  For example, when the topic of "Register Your Email Account" came up in the Power Point presentation, it was only stated that we had to do this.  The person presenting the information, the assistant to the Provost or something, only told us that we "had to do this." 

When she was asked by one of the new faculty HOW we can do this, her response was, "Uh...I don't know.  That was taken care of for me when I got MY job here so...uh...you'll want to call tech services for that."  She then proceeded NOT to tell us how we could get a hold of tech services.  Strangely enough, however, one of the other new teachers knew the number.

Sure, registering an email address is a little thing, but these little things add up to one big message for contingent faculty--get by on your own because we neither have the time nor the respect to make sure that you have what you need to carry out your assignment.  Fortunately for students, contingent faculty care enough to make sure students get the attention and education they deserve despite this situation.

But I shouldn't suggest that every institution treats contingent faculty this way.  Certainly, some institutions have better systems for supporting contingent faculty, although my experience is that such support comes as a result of unions pressuring for such measures.  But perhaps I am wrong.  Anyone with good examples to share?

Comments

[Marcia Newfield]

Timely advice...two colleagues and I were asked to help prepare an orientation for new adjuncts at our community college (after we lobbied for the privilege). A dean at the college is working with us to
try and cover all the bases. I am using it to give out a packet of information about our union, emphasizing rights and benefits for contingents. Hopefully, we will not later encounter adjuncts who don't know that they can become eligible for pension and health benefits. Of course, all the work and meetings are pro bono. When department chairs mandate meetings for adjuncts, we insist that the adj get paid.

Marcia Newfield

[Phil Ray Jack]

Communicating with contingent faculty is always a challenge. Our college created an assistant dean position to work with part-time faculty, and conducting orientation for newly-hired adjuncts is part of this dean's responsibilities. The last dean also began a mentoring program. Both part-time faculty who have been around for awhile and tenured faculty volunteer to "show the newcomers the ropes." We schedule meetings early in the quarter and again during midterms, and let the new faculty know we are available if they have questions or even if they just want to talk.

During our last negotiation, we created an Adjunct Advisory Committee which consists of the dean, another administrator, and two adjuncts who are elected by their peers. We are still arm-wrestling over what the role of this committee should be, but improving communication and including information about the union in the orientation and other activities is a major part of it.

One thing that we know for sure -- standard communication procedures do not work for adjuncts. Many cannot attend meetings that are either scheduled outside of contracted schedules or when they are teaching. Those who can often find themselves deluged with information that only becomes meaningful when it's needed -- and we can't remember it by then. E-mail notices are seldom read (many delete anything that doesn't come from students or their direct supervisors). Anything sent to mailboxes are lost in the mountain of flyers we have to wade through.

The best communication is personal and one-on-one. The mentoring program has been the most successful approach. If nothing else, faculty know who to ask when they have a question.

I think it's also important to realize that we have experience, training, and ideas to offer, so we also try to provide part-time faculty with opportunities to conduct workshops and provide in-service training in their fields.

Phil Ray Jack