The New Adjunct

• New Adjunct, Same Conference Hustle: Reflections

  1 Comment
  11 Mar 2010 /  networking, professional development
  Ladies and gentleman, I am reporting LIVE from the National Association of Student Personnel  Administrators (NASPA) annual conference in Chicago. I am here for meaningful dialogues, soaking up valuable information, and developing lasting relationships with my colleagues nationwide.

  And maybe a little job searching (wink).

  Much like the adjunct experience, I am also a veteran of the national conferences that do such a powerful service to members of the academy. As I look though my conference program, I am as tickled as always about the fact that we in the profession conjure up dynamic program names by coupling a series of big words along with a colon and brief terminology related to my field. Makes me think I should rename this blog, Contextual deconstructions of digital diatribes: An existential phenomenological analysis of adjunct faculty blogs (Yeah, I don’t know what it means either).  

  Another conference tradition I typically take part in is the wincing and hesitation that goes along with every cost associated. Like most adjuncts, I’m stuck paying the bill for this opportunity for me to learn from my colleagues, and try to advance myself professionally.  So, while I watch senior-level administrators enjoying steak dinners and cocktails, I am checking my bank account with my fingers crossed, making tough financial choices before buying coffee, and building a strong rapport with folks at the local 7-11. I do it all in the name of professional development.

  In hindsight, I must the experience has been rich. I have had sit-down conversations with an array of student affairs administrators, everything from Residence Hall Directors, to Vice-Presidents. I have met people from the smallest liberal arts colleges and the largest state public universities. Even better, I have a stack of business cards from said administrators who are willing to look at my résumé, and even pass my name along should their respective institution have no openings. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb (on that limb we’ll find my experiences as an adjunct trying to attend conferences), and assume that most of you are either devoid of the saved money or institutional support to get to these conferences. Typically, they are held in major metropolitan cities, charge an arm and a leg for registration and membership (generally no discount for adjunct faculty), and take place during the school year. What does this mean for the “new breed” of America’s adjunct faculty?  In some instances, adjuncts are kept out of the loop on these opportunities. An example: in 2006, I was working as an adjunct at a large, public university in the Midwest, and my department didn’t bother to tell me, or any of our department’s adjuncts, about a conference that was taking place IN OUR OWN CITY!

  Now, admitedly, all of my assumptions here are just that, assumptions. It is very much possible that there are some great organizations out there that are using at least a segment of their national meeting to reach out to adjuncts, or at least cutting them some sort of break on the costs of membership/conference registration. Herein lies the New Adjunct website, and your homework.

  I would like to start putting some real work and thought into The New Adjunct web site’s Adjunct Faculty Resources page. I think it’s about time that adjunct faculty were made aware of what conferences are adjunct-friendly (i.e. have adjunct faculty caucuses, welcome research on adjunct faculty issues, etc…), as well as resources available exclusively for adjuncts to minimize the costs of travel/membership/registration. What I would like to ask of you, my wonderfully faithful readers, is help in compiling a list. If you know of grant dollars for adjuncts, specific academic organizations that offer incentives for adjuncts-financial or otherwise, please email them to me at paul@thenewadjunct.com.  

  The web page is taking shape steadily. The perils of  relying on people to work with page design, is that you find yourself at the mercy of their interests sometimes. In the meantime, keep following The New Adjunct on Twitter and Facebook. I’ll have more to report in a couple of weeks. For now, there’s a conga-line at the hotel bar (If only I had the money to go)

  Tags: conference, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, New Adjunct, Paul Porter, professional development

• A Time to Reflect and Rejoice

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  24 Feb 2010 /  New Adjunct, on blogging
  Hello my fellow faculty brethren and sistern!

  There’s a lot going on with The New Adjunct website, and I’ll get to it in a minute, I promise. But in light of the tragic events of February 12th at the University of Alabama @ Huntsville, I feel compelled to offer my commentary.

  First off, my thoughts and prayers are with the University, its faculty, students and staff. The word that continues to come to my mind is “unimaginable.” Incidents like this certainly make you take a minute to step back and reflect on how precious life is, and it is my sincere hope that an effective and meaningful healing process is taking place for the institution.

  Secondly, while some may argue this, the shooting certainly puts new light on the tenure debate. The tenure process is, at best, a stressful one. Aside from a raise in salary and the perks of promotion, tenure represents the pinnacle of pedagogical success. It reflects a respect from our colleagues for exemplary teaching, research and service. On the other side of the coin, tenure denial typically means the end of your career. It can be political and impure. I’ve seen faculty celebrate the announcement of their tenure promotion, and I have heard the myriad of stories from those who were denied, and essentially informed that they had one academic year to find new employment. To sit on the tenure track seems wonderful. It also seems as if your academic career can be skyrocketed or destroyed at the flick of a pen. The administrator in me seriously hopes that this particular instance of tenure denial was for all the right reasons-teaching, research and service that were simply not at the masterful level tenure promotion should warrant. I have told many of my administrative colleagues, many times that we are playing with people’s lives, and our personal agendas have no business playing a role in the determination of a person’s livelihood. As faculty, we carry a large banner asserting our dedication to the students, and not our own self-interests. Let’s hope the university upheld this same level of consciousness.

  Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, onto better news.

  The New Adjunct is so close to its launch, we can taste it. In fact, it is my hope and promise that the next entry from me will be one celebrating the official launch of the site. It’s up right now, so click here if you’d like a sneak peek. However, I must warn you: we’re still tweaking the design and adding content.

  In the next couple of weeks, we will begin loading up threads for the discussion forums, and welcome you to jump in and get the discourse started. Those threads will discuss topics such as “What type of benefits are you receiving from your institution?”, “Who are your full-time advocates?”, and “Are you living in an adjunct culture of fear?” I will also have a thread up that furthers the discussion of the tragic shooting at the University of Alabama @ Huntsville. In time, you will be able to add your own threads, and begin your own discussions, sharing of insights, debates, etc.

  I am also very excited to announce that we have slowly began to collect a following! Two weeks ago, we set up both facebook and twitter pages, and have new people following us everyday. We cannot express how excited and honored we are to see that people are taking an interest in our ideas, and are in anticipation of our launch. I can promise you, we will do the best we can to put out resources that are helpful, healthy and meaningful to your professional and pedagogical growth.

  There is one thing, however that we ask of you (for now). We want to know what you would like to see on the page. Considering that we put this project together for you, we’d like to know what you would consider most helpful. So, respond to this entry, and let us know how we can use our page to serve you and your colleagues. Also (okay, I lied, two things), spread the word! There’s strength in numbers, and the more people that know of pages like The New Adjunct, and Adjunct Nation, the closer we can come to working together to become better teachers and scholars.

  One last thing. In March, we will begin nominations for The New Adjunct “Adjunct of the Month” Award. We will announce our first winner early at the end of next month. We have also decided that since adjuncts teach year-round, we will continue the award through the summer months also.

  That’s all for now! Continue to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

  Tags: Paul Porter, The New Adjunct

• The Process of Progress: The Creation of an Internet Support Site for Adjunct Faculty

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  09 Feb 2010 /  adjunct faculty, networking
  I wish I could wish you all a happy “Post Super Bowl Week,” but I’m from Indianapolis.

  When I accepted the offer from AdjunctNation.com to write about the process of creating a website for Adjunct Faculty, I thought to myself, “Self, this is GREAT! An opportunity to not only put forth a place to help adjuncts further themselves professionally, but also a national outlet to write about it!!!!” Little did I know, the first part is incredibly difficult.

  The most difficult aspect is support. This isn’t exactly a resource that most institutions are willing to invest money and resource in. In fact, I don’t think I have even mentioned it to my institution (outside of bringing it up to adjuncts). Helping part-time faculty become full-time faculty is something of a “cat and mouse” game. Quite possibly because we’re not only unifying adjuncts in developing as professionals, but moreover, there’s the very real fear that creating another context to give adjuncts a voice will well…give adjuncts a voice. But it’s a necessary evil. There are so many paradigms of higher education that adjuncts are not privy to. Typically, we’re reduced to the simple questions, “Are there any available/leftover sections of __________? and “Can I have some said sections  _______. Now we have the audacity to inquire about professional development, going to conferences, hosting on-campus events, and even teaching 200, 300, and 400-level course. Clearly this represents the day in which adjuncts go mad and take higher education with them.

  That day is fast approaching!

  In collaboration with Sarah Layden, an adjunct instructor with an MFA in Creative Writing from a prominent institution in the Eastern region of the United States, we have worked diligently to conceptualize and begin preparing this website. It is our fervent hope that the page will launch fairly soon.

  It was our hope to launch the page in January-approximately one month after our first meeting. What we quickly found out was that like most adjuncts, it is a battle to even coordinate schedules to meet and conceptualize. We also found that when progress is dependent on others (in this case our webmaster), it can be a laborious and frustrating process. We have also learned that a resource of this nature requires a lot of attention to detail, and careful preparation. Our intent is pure: to create a webpage with information and resources to help part-time faculty secure full-time jobs and develop as professionals. However, extending our message to the thousands of adjunct faculty in Indiana and beyond takes some carefully calculated steps. As such, we have created a Twitter account, as well as a Facebook page to begin the development of a following. At the advice of our webmaster, we will use these outlets, along with AdjunctNation.com throughout the process, to not only give updates, but also to announce the official launch. Click the links at the bottom to join and follow us.

  On to the good stuff, the features. With all respect to AdjunctNation.com, we didn’t want to be a “copycat page.” So, Sarah and I spent most of our meetings trying to figure out what we could offer that would make us unique. Ironically (and contradictory I may add), we started looking at other pages to get ideas for layout, color scheme, etc. Which I think is par for the course for young professors, in the sense that we typically frame our teaching styles through bits and pieces of our colleagues. Like any page, we will offer a forum page, with a couple of “start up threads” to get you participating on the page, and encouraging you to put up others. We will also offer a “Links and Resources” tab, in which we will keep you updated on conferences, grant opportunities, and any other tidbits that you can use to further your professional development. It will also be a good place to find articles specific to adjunct faculty development.

  Perhaps the neatest aspect will be our efforts to spotlight you—the adjuncts who work fervently to provide higher education with an ambitious energy for teaching that is precious and difficult to replicate. Our Spotlight page will be used to announce your successes and celebrate your efforts. We will also offer an “Adjunct of the Month” award where you will have a page dedicated to the recipient for 30 days. In time we will welcome bloggers similar to that of AdjunctNation.com. However in the meantime, you will be able to follow myself and Sarah through the “Administrators’ Corners.”

  Over the past two months we have worked with lawyers, webmasters and the wonderful support of AdjunctNation.com to conceptualize and begin designing this page. It is our sincere hope that we can provide you with a top-notch page with a sleek design and helpful content. We look forward to hearing from you!

  Follow us on Facebook

   

  Tags: AdjunctNation.com, faculty support, networking, New Adjunct, Paul Porter, Sarah Layden

• Nihilism of Teaching: The Self-loathing of Adjunct Faculty

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  26 Jan 2010 /  adjunct faculty
  Not much to report on the creation of the New Adjunct web site. We are working with our webmaster to make sure that we have a nice, clean design, and walking through the process of discussing initial content. So, with a potential launch date slowly approaching, I thought I’d take a little time to write about something that has weighed heavily on my mind, and illustrates the types of problems our page will try to fix.

  In his venerable 1993 text, Race Matters, Dr. Cornell West articulates a perspective on the concept of the nihilism of Black America-essentially arguing that African Americans in the United States have accepted and even subconsciously endorsed a self-fulfilling prophecy of hopelessness and absence of meaning. Simply put, Black America’s self-loathing has made it difficult to love others.  This nihilistic threat flew in the face of efforts by Black foremothers and forefathers to disseminate feelings of love, worth and pride in their respective communities. As Dr. West wrote, “These buffers consisted of cultural structures of meaning and feeling that created and sustained communities; this armor constituted ways of life and struggle that embodied values of service and sacrifice, love and care, discipline and excellence” (p. 15).  The result was evident: 40 years ago, Black Americans accounted for the lowest suicide rate in the United States.

  Unfortunately, Black America now accounts for the largest number of suicides.

  Assuredly, you have now scratched your head a couple of times, trying to figure out how Cornell West’s analysis fits within the context of adjunct faculty. If you are anticipating this blog to be one that chronicles the plight of African American adjuncts, you will be disappointed. And you should.

  Your disappointment however should be directed toward a much bigger problem.

  Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague of mine who is a full-time faculty member at a community college. He is certainly an advocate of part-time faculty efforts, but is often taken aback by the manner in which institutions across sectors have become bequest to adjunct faculty (think back to the last time you sat in your mid-year adjunct faculty orientation or in-service, and were reminded how thankful the institution is for your work, and the recognition that you’re underpaid, but so vital to the growth and survival of your college/university), yet do not follow up their gratitude with efforts to enhance professional development, encourage research, or further scholarship. As Janet Jackson once quipped, “What have you done for me lately?”

  I, too, am bothered by this. More immediately, I am surprised and even saddened by the manner in which we have allowed it to happen. Admittedly, it is a bit of a stretch, but we currently bear witness (and contribute) to the nihilism of adjunct faculty. West defines nihilism as “the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and most important lovelessness” (p. 14). He goes on to assert, “The frightening result is a numbing detachment from others and a self-destructive disposition toward the world. Life without meaning, hope, and love breeds a cold-hearted, mean-spirited outlook that destroys both the individual and others” (pp. 14-15). In the same way West suggests that Black America has let corporate market institutions, and the prioritization of capital, power and enterprise  compel an attitude of hopelessness and meaninglessness that tears at the core of a cultural structure, the adjunct community has not only accepted the lack of pay, space, and perceived credibility, but has wrapped it in a blanket of surrender. We have made ourselves bequest to the institution, and stopped seeking opportunity, because we naturally assume that the opportunities are absent (or granted in minuscule amounts at the mercy of full-time, tenured faculty and administration).  We have determined that picking up sections is the opportunity. Some of us have just accepted that we will have to wait out a bad economy, or hope for somebody to retire before our time can come. In many instances, we have the same credentials as our full-time counterparts, yet let the stigma of the title “adjunct faculty” persist in weighing us down with a fervent belief that we are not yet real faculty.

  Our time is here. In fact, it has been here for awhile. In proposing solutions to our self-loathing, West writes, “self-love and love of others are both modes toward increasing self-valuation and encouraging political resistance in one’s community” (p. 19). It is time for adjuncts everwher to love themselves professionally. Instead of just seeking opportunity, reflect on why we’re seeking it. Attend a conference, try to write or co-write an article or do scholarly research. Dialogue with colleagues about lesson plans, syllabi and teaching activities, but keep in mind why these opportunities are important. In the same way West urges us to love ourselves, our fellow people, and begin a path for those behind us, we must love our colleagues, our students, as well as ourselves. In this modern higher education, with increasing comparisons to the businessworld, administrations will bend to its constituents. We must demand more from our institutions in order to give more to our students. If adjuncts are as valuable to higher education as our administrative figureheads lead us to believe, just think of what might happen at the threat of our absence.

  That same colleague of mine once said, “The professorial is the only professional context in which we devalue our worth.” Whether you’re full-time or adjunct, tenured or non-tenured, new breed of adjunct or old, it is imperative that we see the value of our contribution to education and take pride in it. If you think about it, students seek out our expertise as teachers in the same way that patients seek out doctors. Whenever we get sick, we go to our doctor for information that can easily be found on WebMD; and we do so because our doctors went to medical school. They’ve read books, done research and acquired knowledge necessary to preserve our health. Teachers are no different. We went to graduate school (in some cases, twice), read books, did research, and acquired knowledge necessary to share information with those who seek it. But the teaching profession doesn’t carry the same value, and as adjuncts we’re treated as if we are at the bottom of soiled barrel. Most  students honestly don’t know what an adjunct is; but they do know what they see, which is us walking out of the classroom and into our cars to go home, or to teach multiple classes somewhere else.  We must  dictate our value, and not have it assessed. Remember, you may be “just an adjunct,” but you are still a member of the faculty, and have a job to do. And your job matters.

  Tags: adjunct faculty, nihilism, Paul Porter, self-image

• Ph.D. or Bust: The Salience of Terminal Degrees in Faculty Hiring

  2 Comments
  18 Jan 2010 /  Uncategorized, jonhunting
  Hello friends of the blogosphere,

  I hope this blog finds you all well after a safe and relaxing holiday. I’m sure that many of you have been too tired to even think about syllabus writing, course preps or research. I’m in the same boat, but my dissertation has been put off for too long. So I have fired up my laptop once again, and figured that writing a bit for you all would be a nice warm up.

  Plans for thenewadjunct.com are coming along nicely. In coming entries to this blog, I’ll share with you more about the process of designing and launching the web site (I’ll also pass along opportunities for you to get involved, so stay tuned).  So far, feedback has been great. Responses have been very supportive, and I feel really confident about all the site can be.  One comment, in particular really speaks to my professional convictions. So much so, that it is the motivation behind this entry.

  The comment is simple: “Why put the effort into launching thenewadjunct.com?” The answer, at surface level, is just as simple. We conceptualized this site as an outlet to inform adjunct faculty on the secrets of the academy that they aren’t always privy to. Further, we found it important to hear from all of you out there, as illustrations of the frustrations and triumphs adjunct faculty face. Finally, we feel as if adjuncts need to be showcased. It is my personal hope that our page can serve as a space to celebrate you, and your work.

  Regarding the secrets of the academy, I feel as if many of them keep adjuncts from landing the full-time employment they desire. One of the “secrets” is the scope of full-time faculty appointments. While most institutions will never fully admit it, the days are over when a candidate could be competitive with a Master’s Degree alone. In an economy that, despite minor rejuvenation remains weak, even the entry-level instructor position requires a Doctorate.  

  If you think about it, it’s perfectly sensible. A weak economy leads to a more competitive job market. Experienced academicians are beating out young Ph.D.s for tenure-track positions, leaving newly branded doctorates to apply for the non-tenured positions that were previously given to candidates with Master’s Degrees.  What this means for most adjuncts is that despite all of the years of teaching experience, the recognized terminal degree in higher education in the United States will trump all. While this is not meant to question the intentions of all who offer the encouraging words of “keep teaching for us and something will come up,” it does expose a paradox between the perception and reality of part-time faculty. The adjunct faculty member is no longer (and some would argue have never been) perceived as a profession.  Traditionally, they are viewed as resources of wisdom that have full-time employment, and simply seek to impart their knowledge in the classroom. They aren’t doing research, seeking grants or trying to “break in” to the profession. Mind you, we know better.

  The name “The new adjunct” comes from the belief that the current perception of adjuncts is outdated. We’re no longer retired high school teachers, and corporate executives looking to teach a couple of classes on the side. We’re now 20, 30, and even 40+ something’s who have finished Master Degrees and want to pursue teaching as a full-time profession.  For many of us the Doctorate may be a couple years away, or a long shot, nestled in the backseat to family lives or in many cases, a much needed break from student status. We no longer seek to represent the “mid-life crisis” of faculty—more qualified than graduate assistants, yet without the credentials of our tenured counterparts.  This declaration may not do much to nullify the fact that we are losing positions to the terminally degreed, and non-tenure track positions are at a premium.  However, it does provide a salient context to begin new discussions about adjunct faculty. It’s no surprise that we’re overworked, underpaid, and professionally frustrated. It’s also old news that we’re sick of being denied professional development opportunities because we’re not full time. So, let’s change the conversation to something a little more productive.

  The new adjunct seeks to move the discourse toward more productive topics that will help enhance professional opportunities for adjuncts. Can we guarantee that our page will ensure full-time employment? No, that’d be silly. Can we guarantee that you will agree with everything we say? Of course not. What we can guarantee is that we will do our best to try and provide space to highlight your work, feature your dedications, and share insights that will help use all move forward in our professional struggles. We welcome your comments, your questions, your debates and your opinions. We’ll have an announcement page to praise your successes, and share opportunities as they arise (i.e. grant dollars, information about Ph.D. programs, etc).

  With that, all the best for 2010! Now get back to those syllabi!

   

   

   

  Tags: adjunct employment, jobhunting, Paul Porter, terminal degrees, thenewadjunct

• The New Adjunct Blog Launches: Hello All!

  1 Comment
  12 Jan 2010 /  on blogging
  Hello to my academician brothers and sisters of the blogosphere!
  Allow me to start this entry by sending a sincere thank you to the great folks of AdjunctNation.com for the opportunity to share with you my thoughts and feelings about the adjunct experience. Having watched it and lived it as both faculty and staff, I have a great respect and admiration for what you all do, and look forward to offering insight and perspective. I hope to become a meaningful part of your professional journey, and welcome you to become part of mine!

  I am a Lecturer of Communication at a private, Catholic university in Indianapolis. I teach public speaking to undergraduate students, on top of my administrative duties as the Director of the university’s First Year Experience Program. In addition to teaching first year seminar courses, I also play a hand in the construction of the program’s curriculum, as well as the hiring and evaluation of the program’s faculty. I have created the program’s first ever faculty retreat, and monthly best practices meetings, where we have discussed issues ranging from program goals, to the reconstruction of course syllabi. I also led the creation of the program’s first mission statement, and am currently designing the program’s first ever web page. I even take time to mentor student affairs graduate student instructors who are asked to teach the course.

  I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communication and Rhetorical Studies, and I’m currently finishing my Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, with research focuses in social justice, critical race theory, first-year seminar pedagogy and best practices, issues and concerns of adjunct faculty and the state of liberal arts scholarship. I am currently writing my dissertation, which analyzes levels of multicultural competence, racial identity, and spiritual development among student affairs administrators at the 22 faith-based colleges and universities in Indiana.

  I am also a seven-year veteran when it comes to the adjunct “hustle.” As I like to tell people, I have spent the last seven years trying to piecemeal a livelihood. I have worked at a couple of community colleges in the midwest, as well as a large state university. I, like the rest of you, have emptied my wallet for gas and even bus passes to navigate across town, finding a couple classes here, and a couple classes there. I have boundlessly put myself out there to faculty and administration to get my foot in the door, told myself that if I just keep at it, something will come up, and been left wondering what went wrong after getting repeatedly passed over for jobs. I have, and still stress over the vicious circle of getting turned down for full-time work due to lack of experience, yet feeling as if I can’t get experience because I haven’t had a full time job. I have been overworked and underpaid. I have been angry and bitter. I also know the plight of teaching seven classes for a quarter of the price.

  There is so much I want to accomplish through this blog:
  1. I want to develop a relationship with those who choose to keep track of my musings.
  2. I want to share the observations I have made during my professional expedition.
  3. I want to share the administrative secrets I have discovered as a doctoral student in the field.
  4. I want to share a project that I am working on and want you to be a part of also. For the last few months, myself and a fellow adjunct faculty colleague have been conceptualizing a webpage very similar to AdjunctNation.com. I am thrilled to announce that www.thenewadjunct.com will launch in January 2010. Think of it as AdjunctNation.com’s talented little brother. We will offer forum and blogging opportunities, but our greater ambition is that The New Adjunct transforms itself into another space that allows adjuncts to talk, vent, and share tips. A great piece of my blogging experience with AdjunctNation.com’s users will dedicated to reflecting on the process of launching our own web page.

  Thank you for taking a moment to read this. I look forward to writing, researching, discussing (and even disagreeing at times) with all of you. Cheers to our new found relationship, and let the discourse begin!

  Tags: adjunct faculty, Indiana, Indianapolis, Paul Porter, thenewadjunct.com, web page development

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