Adjuncts: Fill-ins or Replacements?

by Gayle Taylor

from Inquiry, Volume 7, Number 1, Spring 2002, 42-43

© Copyright 2002 Virginia Community College System

Abstract
The Virginia Community College System needs adjuncts for many reasons.

Moving among their peers and students like restless souls searching for a home, adjuncts unobtrusively support the community college mission.  Although held accountable for all necessary paperwork pertaining to administrative and instructional tasks, adjuncts are given a small area in which to accomplish these tasks.  They load up all papers, books, and instructional materials upon their person (much like a pack mule) to reach the assigned teaching station.  Very few people recognize these creatures, for adjuncts enter the building, usually at strange hours, and leave again without anyone (with the exception of the students) knowing that they were there. This problem is compounded when adjuncts teach at more than one setting, for they must jet quickly from one location to another; therefore, they generally are not sociable (see mule analogy above). Upon leaving one parking lot, they leap into their cars (also known as portable homes, complete with hotplates and showers) and move with the speed of light to their next destination.

Because they are loners by default, they typically have no buddies with which to share academic combat stories or to bounce new teaching ideas off of. Although administration tries to keep them informed of procedures, often information trickles down to adjuncts, thus contributing to the loneliness factor.  Thankfully, the secretaries (who really do know everyone and everything) de-stress adjuncts by resolving conflicts or supplying them with information.

Of course, there are reasons why adjuncts remain dedicated to their teaching in an uncertain working environment.  The first reason is that they love what they do and cannot imagine doing anything else.  They love taking out their small bag of tricks from their briefcase to begin creating magic in that best of all worlds: the classroom.  Here they are masters of the universe because the classroom is the ultimate stage and, like stand-up comedians, adjuncts know immediately from their audience if they are winners or losers.

Secondly, because of their love for the profession, adjuncts continue to work odd hours because they desire the security that a full-time position offers. In a sense, they are like pinch hitters waiting for their turn at bat.  They know that they can do the job, for they have already performed the workload without the perks.

Of course, adjuncts have the responsibility to make use of professional development opportunities and to participate in academic events. Like their full-time counterparts, they should commit to presenting authentic assessments appropriate to their field.  Once adjuncts have demonstrated their dedication to a college and their expertise in an area, they have proven themselves to be worthy of a full-time opportunity. They should represent the known through student and professional evaluations.

Adjuncts are needed in the community college for obvious reasons. First, because part-time instructing usually accompanies full-time employment elsewhere, adjuncts bring to the community college environment and classroom alternative perspectives and “hands-on” experiences from non-academic sources. This seasons a class discussion and allows students to see how their learning translates to the “real” world.  Clearly, students as well as peers benefit from this exchange.

Secondly, full-time and part-time instructors can help one another by sharing information, though currently this is through informal conversations in the hallway.  Rarely do full-time and part-time instructors gather for department meetings. This is a missed opportunity, for teachers like to learn and relish new approaches to their subjects.

Finally, from an administrative standpoint, adjuncts fill in the instructional gaps,  and they are economical. But rather than being viewed as “fill-ins,” they could be prepped for full-time positions as availability dictates.  Many Virginia secondary schools take this approach. School systems often hire substitutes as full-time employees; high schools groom teachers for administrative positions. In the business world, corporate training programs prepare associates for future executive positions.  Why hire exclusively from the outside when utilizing dedicated and proven employees would strengthen the community college?  Instead of being viewed as fill-ins, adjuncts could be first-choice replacements for imminent full-time vacancies.