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Trade-Offs of Using Adjuncts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2005

Shirley M. Geiger
Shirley M. Geiger
Affiliation:
Savannah State University APSA Council Member
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Today's department chairs are attempting to “do more with less,” in response to budgetcuts, disappearing faculty lines, legislators and administrators who think faculty have ittoo easy, and an increasingly diverse student population which wants classes offered atnon-traditional times. In such times, hiring adjunct professors to help cope seems to be thebest way to respond to these demands. Too often, though, the crunch of time does not allowfor careful weighing of the advantages and disadvantages of hiring adjuncts. In thisarticle, I lay out some of the tradeoffs of the apparently simple act of finding “someone tocover the course.” Concerns about the tradeoffs in the use of part-time and adjunct facultyare not new to the American Political Science Association. In 1997, APSA was one of 10academic associations that accepted the invitation of the American Historical Association toconvene in Washington, D.C., to discuss the “growing use of part-time and adjunct faculty.”In my comments, I will rely heavily upon their articulation of the tradeoffs of usingadjuncts as well as the Department Chair Online Resource Center sponsored by the AmericanCouncil on Education. [Note: APSA has subsequently joined with other associations to formthe Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) to explore issues related to academicemployment of adjuncts. See www.academicworkforce.org].

Information

Type
Profession Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2005, pp. 107 - 108
Copyright
© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

Today's department chairs are attempting to “do more with less,” in response to budget cuts, disappearing faculty lines, legislators and administrators who think faculty have it too easy, and an increasingly diverse student population which wants classes offered at non-traditional times. In such times, hiring adjunct professors to help cope seems to be the best way to respond to these demands. Too often, though, the crunch of time does not allow for careful weighing of the advantages and disadvantages of hiring adjuncts. In this article, I lay out some of the tradeoffs of the apparently simple act of finding “someone to cover the course.” Concerns about the tradeoffs in the use of part-time and adjunct faculty are not new to the American Political Science Association. In 1997, APSA was one of 10 academic associations that accepted the invitation of the American Historical Association to convene in Washington, D.C., to discuss the “growing use of part-time and adjunct faculty.” In my comments, I will rely heavily upon their articulation of the tradeoffs of using adjuncts as well as the Department Chair Online Resource Center sponsored by the American Council on Education. [Note: APSA has subsequently joined with other associations to form the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) to explore issues related to academic employment of adjuncts. See www.academicworkforce.org].

Departments hire adjuncts in a number of situations, most commonly, as supplemental instructors to cover courses when a department faces an enrollment bulge; as specialists to provide specialized instruction in a particular field; as full-time sabbatical replacements; or as substitutes to cover scheduled absences arising from pregnancy; leaves of absence, or medical leave, the notice on which may be short or long.

The AAUP Report (1997) provides an insightful portrait of the working conditions of adjuncts. They are less likely to have telephones on campus or to receive remuneration for holding office hours. They have less access to photocopying, computer equipment, and secretarial support. They are more likely to be women. They are more likely to teach lower division and community college courses. They spend less time on out-of-class preparation or interaction with students. They have lower publication rates. They have less contact with discipline/professional associations. Their pay per course generally ranges from $1,000 to $3,000, although no systematic data is readily available on pay rates.

What is Gained in Using Adjuncts?

  • The students get instructors who want to teach and who enjoy affiliation with the institution.
  • Adjuncts may bring expertise that it would be difficult or economically improvident to duplicate through the appointment of tenure tract faculty.
  • Adjuncts can help institutions be responsive to student needs on short notice.
  • Adjuncts can help institutions meet the needs of nontraditional students who want more evening and Saturday classes.
  • Adjunct pay scales allow institutions to adapt at a lower dollar cost to the institution.
  • Finally, adjuncts may be recruited strategically to increase the diversity of the department's faculty.

What Are the Problems with Using Adjuncts?

  • The pay, with no benefits, may attract less able teachers or those with some problems that prevent their full-time hire, but which they choose not to disclose.
  • The excessive reliance on part-time faculty for lower division courses means that entering and less-prepared students are primarily taught by part-time staff who are not paid to provide the out-of-class support that is particularly essential to such students.
  • Adjuncts may know less about the institution and may be less able to respond to student questions or needs for assistance.
  • Adjuncts may have little daily involvement with their colleagues.
  • Full-time faculty must bear the full weight of the committee work.
  • Finally, adjunct faculty teaching the general education/core courses may have less concern about the role of these courses in recruiting the department's majors and minors.

Academic programs require high levels of permanent faculty involvement to maintain and renew curricula, to develop courses, research trends, set requirements, and design general education courses, majors, minors, and graduate programs. We must consider the true costs of shifting this burden to full-time faculty, who may be out-numbered by part-timers. With increasing attention to student credit-hour generation, full-time faculty members who teach mostly upper division courses generate significantly fewer student credit hours. Having adjuncts teach upper division courses also raises questions of who is best qualified to develop and shape majors and minors.

These concerns may be addressed successfully in a number of ways. One of the best is to bring back retired faculty members, if possible. For many newer programs, this is not an option. A number of observers have recommended other good practices, with respect to adjunct professors. For example, Taylor (2003) suggests the following to improve the quality of the work experience for adjuncts: Offer a student worker for several hours a week to adjuncts teaching more than one course; include adjuncts in faculty meetings; provide mail boxes, offices, e-mail accounts, and computers; and list adjuncts on faculty rosters.

The AAUP Statement recommends the following: Appoint faculty who are well-qualified, monitor the balance between full-time and part-time faculty; consider establishing system-wide or state-wide minimum salary and fringe benefits for adjunct faculty; and urge regional accrediting bodies to pay closer attention to the impact of reliance on adjunct faculty on student outcomes and academic quality (Taylor 2003).

There are tradeoffs to using adjuncts, but the weight given to those tradeoffs increasingly depends on budgetary decisions. The challenge for the department chair is to ensure that the quality of instruction and academic integrity remain primary concerns in the decision making process.

This discussion of the tradeoffs of using adjunct professors includes observations from the following documents: Statement from the Conference on the Growing Use of Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty. 1997. American Association of University Professors, Washington, D.C., September 26–28.

References

Taylor III, P. A. 2003 “Good Practices in Caring for Adjunct Faculty.” Department Chair On-line Resource Center, Department Leadership Project, http://www.acenet.edu/resources/chairs/.Google Scholar