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!
