The Future of Adjunct Teaching

Lawrence S. Wittner, in his article "Inequality on Campus," informs us that:

Some of the nation’s poorest people work at higher educational institutions, and many of them are members of the faculty...These underpaid educators are adjunct faculty, who now comprise an estimated 74 percent of America’s college teachers. Despite advanced degrees, scholarly research experience, and teaching credentials, they are employed at an average of $2,700 per course. Even when they manage to cobble together enough courses to constitute a full-time teaching load, that usually adds up to roughly $20,000 per year -- an income that leaves many of them and their families officially classified as living in poverty. Some apply for and receive food stamps. 

The problem with working as an adjunct is not only the low remuneration.  Adjunct instructors are usually dehumanized (e.g. photos not included on departmental websites), disrespected by full-time faculty (e.g. given a syllabus and textbooks to use, or invited to workshops where "adjuncts can be good teachers too" themes abound), and subjected to a campus culture where they have absolutely no voice and are often seen as a cost saving embarrassment.

What can be done? First, it's imperative that full-time faculty recognize adjunct instructors as stakeholders and include them in departmental decisions concerning course offerings. Secondly, campuses should recognize excellent instruction among adjuncts in the same way that excellence is recognized among full-time faculty. Third, perhaps it's time that universities pry open the coffers and ensure that adjunct instructors do not end up living a life of poverty. How can this be done, other than paying a higher per class fee?

Adjunct instructors could be encouraged to apply for program coordinator and director positions, running programs that link students to internship opportunities, etc. They could work closely with the grants office to pursue and manage foundation, State and Federal grant funded programs. They could lead the institution's efforts to broaden its outreach beyond its immediate campus borders (e.g. organizing and taking students into impoverished inner city school to provide remedial tutoring, big brother/big sister activities, SAT test prep, etc.).

It should be remembered that not all adjuncts are lifers who were passed by and unable to secure full-time positions, as the prejudice often goes. Many young faculty on the to "promising" careers start out as adjuncts; and many individuals work as professionals in other fields, bringing real-world knowledge,  skills and connections that full-time faculty simply don't have. But even those who are full-time adjuncts, working at several institutions at a time, could serve an interesting purpose. As they come to know the inner workings of different institutions and departments, they could serve the purpose of "cross-pollinators," carrying knowledge of best practices from one institution to another, if only they were valued.

Finally, with MOOCs set to put adjuncts out of business, it's time that the academy rethink its use of individuals who have gone through the pipeline from Freshman to terminal degree, lest that pipeline itself become imperiled.