A Model for Successful Mission Integration to Meet the Needs of Adjunct Faculty at a Four-Year Institution

The practice of hiring adjunct instructors was initially considered to be an anomalous event (Todd, 2004). Community college employment of adjunct instructors, however, witnessed a 50% increase during the 1970s (Cain, 1999) and, by 1984, adjunct instructor utilization in community colleges rose dramatically with an additional 80% growth. Over a 33-year period, 1970-2003, the employment of adjunct faculty in the academe increased 422% (Bouton, 2010). With such a strong adjunct presence within the community college, one question came to mind: How do adjunct and fulltime faculty perceive the other? The purpose of this study was to investigate adjunct perceptions of fulltime faculty and, vice versa, fulltime faculty perceptions of adjunct faculty. With an increasing presence of adjunct instructors within the community college environment, it was deemed important to illuminate the experiences and perceptions held by each strata of faculty concerning the “other”. Ethnomethodology was used to conduct this study. Four community college liberal arts fulltime faculty members and four community college liberal arts adjunct faculty members were selected as research participants, utilizing a purposive sampling technique involving four research sites, which were located in the same geographical location within the continental United States. One liberal arts fulltime faculty member and one liberal arts adjunct faculty member who taught in the same field were selected from each of the four sites. Data gathered from semi-structured interviews and institutional artifacts were analyzed to identify emerging themes. From the data analysis,

Adjunct Faculty in Community Colleges: An Academic Administrator's Guide to Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining Great Teachers Desna L. Wallin (Ed.). Anker Publishing: Bolton, MA. 2005, 227 pages. $39.95, Cloth. ISBN 1-882982-81-9. Reviewed by Clifford P. Harbour.Desna L. Wallin's book, Adjunct Faculty in Community Colleges: An Academic Administrator's Guide to Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining Great Teachers, provides campus leaders with a new resource to improve institutional practice regarding employment of part-time faculty. This work is an edited volume published by Anker in 2005 and is comprised of 13 chapters written by community college presidents, academic administrators, faculty, and university researchers.Community colleges are facing new challenges in the 21st century because of budgetary constraints, looming retirements in the faculty and leadership ranks, demands for new curricula and delivery modalities, and a student population that is becoming increasingly diverse and complex. These developments mean public two-year institutions must become more efficient and effective in providing educational programs and services to their communities. Many institutions have realized new efficiencies through increased use of adjunct faculty. Wallin's goal in publishing Adjunct Faculty in Community Colleges is to explain how campus leaders can now become more effective in selecting, developing, supporting, and retaining this critical human resource.Wallin has organized the volume in three parts. Pan One presents Wallin's excellent overview of the text, and this overview is supplemented by research reported by university scholars. Akroyd and Caison report on their analysis of recent data from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty. They describe how adjunct faculty compare with their full-time counterparts on factors such as demographics and job satisfaction. This work is complemented by research findings presented by Phillips and Campbell regarding faculty development at Florida's community colleges. Results from these two studies paint a picture of important similarities and differences concerning adjunct faculty and their full-time colleagues.Akroyd and Caison's comparison of adjunct and full time instructors reveals that the two populations are quite similar regarding (a) age, gender, and academic qualifications, and (b) overall job satisfaction. But there are important differences in how these two populations perceive job security, advancement opportunities, and benefits. Adjunct faculty are significantly less satisfied with these aspects of their employment. To date, these lower levels of satisfaction have not significantly affected community colleges. Institutions have been able to replace departing adjuncts with new ones. However, Akroyd and Caison's research suggests practitioners should not overlook the possibility that a dissatisfied adjunct faculty could have serious implications for institutional stability.Phillips and Campbell report on a statewide survey of mathematics and communications faculty at Florida community colleges regarding the value of certain professional development activities. These authors found that adjunct and full-time faculty agreed that new faculty orientation programs were a very valuable professional development activity. However, they differed, for example, on the importance of (a) travel money, (b) on campus workshops, and (c) access to professional development materials in the college library. The first two items were characterized as very valuable by full-time faculty but less so by adjuncts. Conversely, adjuncts regarded access to on campus professional development materials as more valuable than did their full-time counterparts.These two chapters provide a sound introduction to critical similarities and differences to be considered by campus leaders working to improve the selection, development, support, and retention of adjuncts. …

In this study we measured the degree to which undergraduate students are aware of differences in tenure-track and adjunct faculty roles and responsibilities, and tested if student perceptions of teaching effectiveness vary based on faculty position type. We randomly assigned undergraduate students (N = 214) to read an instructor profile identifying the teacher as either a tenure-track faculty or adjunct instructor. Students then watched an online video lecture and rated the instructor’s teaching effectiveness, perceived effort, and their own likelihood to take the instructor’s class. We used analyses of variance and found that students rated the instructor the same in both conditions regardless of perceived position, but students were able to distinguish differences in faculty rank roles and responsibilities, suggesting students have a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities of tenure-track and adjunct instructors.

Assess Your Adjuncts to Improve Student Learning

The new landscape of contingent employment in higher education has presented unique challenges for educational institutions preparing working professionals to assume roles as educators. Unlike their traditional counterparts, adjunct faculty possess disciplinary knowledge and expertise but lack formal, academic preparation for teaching (Anderson, 2009; Cangelosi, Crocker, & Sorrell, 2009; Girard, 2003; Spencer, 2013). Consequently, adjunct faculty require additional tools for on-going development and to feel connected to the organization (AACN, 2017; McDonald, 2010). Such faculty supports influence employee motivation and workplace engagement (Bauer, 2011; Meixner, Kruck, & Madden, 2010) and are positively correlated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Gappa, 2000; Lew, 2009). To address the complex needs of adjunct nursing and health professions faculty, the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions has implemented an approach to faculty development using Flipgrid, a video discussion platform. Most commonly used in K-12 education as a learning tool for students, the platform was “flipped” to engage adjunct faculty across health disciplines in a virtual faculty network. Twelve faculty participated in a beta test over the course of a semester to evaluate accessibility, functionality, and overall usefulness of the platform to influence faculty engagement. Results were consistent with the literature pertaining to faculty work engagement (Forbes, Hickey, & White 2010; McDonald, 2010; Raman, 2015). Faculty reported that the professional development activity promoted a sense of community among educators and encouraged collaboration. Ability to engage in meaningful dialog, outside of traditional meetings, was reported as a major theme influencing the sharing of best practices.

One day in spring of 2009, Rules Committee of The University of Akron Board of Trustees made a small but significant addition to a new Employee Background Review Policy that university administration had proposed. The policy, modeled on an Ohio law requiring criminal background checks for all K--12 public school employees in Ohio, would require blanket criminal background checks for all prospective UA employees, excluding student employees. (1) The board added an additional requirement unique to standard criminal record policies: discretion of University of Akron, any applicant may be asked to submit fingerprints or DNA sample for purpose of a federal criminal background (2) This new policy was approved by board and enacted on August 30, 2009. As per university policy, rule was passed without faculty review and went largely unnoticed until adjunct instructor Matt Williams, vice president of New Faculty Majority, a national coalition advocating on behalf of part-time and adjunct faculty, resigned in protest on October 24, 2009, triggering local, national, and international news coverage. An editorial in Akron Beacon Journal protested that the swab-for-a-job plan at UA represents a unique and unwarranted intrusion into personal privacy and raises potent discrimination issues, (3) and on October 28th American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release declaring its outrage over idea that employers might consider themselves entitled to our most private, personal genetic information. (4) On November 5, 2009, The University of Akron faculty senate--citing privacy and legal concerns, questioning breadth of DNA sample requirement, and emphasizing threat it poses to reputation of university--passed a resolution requesting that board of trustees reconsider new provisions. Also on November 5, 2009, university's Office of General Counsel stated it would recommend that rule 3359-11-22 (B)(3) be amended to read: Certain positions at The University of Akron, if required by law or contract, will be subject to both state of Ohio and federal criminal background checks regardless of how long preferred candidate has resided in Ohio. The candidate may be required by law enforcement agency to provide additional information for purposes of conducting criminal background check. (5) Since neither Ohio nor federal law enforcement agencies routinely screen subjects of criminal background checks against state or federal DNA fingerprint databases, this suggestion would effectively retract policy and make it just another story from a university famous for odd academic employment practices (like requiring department chairs to be in their offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each workday! (6)). But was UA policy wrong on legal or ethical grounds? And if so, would backing off on DNA sampling provision right its wrongness? The Rules Committee thought it was simply updating accepted fingerprinting practices prescribed in Ohio law. Its view was that DNA identification would eventually eclipse fingerprinting as standard technology for criminal background checks, because Ohio is moving toward mandatory DNA identification and sampling in booking of all arrestees. (7) At least for university personnel whose jobs give them access to valuable equipment, student living quarters, and faculty offices, some might find practice of preemployment screening against databases of known felons and sex offenders simply prudent. And if we are going to be fair about it, they could argue, we should treat all university employees alike in this regard, rather than more heavily burdening security and housekeeping personnel, who are disproportionately likely to be from minority groups or groups with low socioeconomic status. In retrospect, incident at UA highlights some interesting questions about privacy protections that employees deserve in an era of heightened anxieties about institutional security and applicability of protections they already enjoy to DNA-based forms of identification. …

The Diverse Learning Environments (DLE) project was designed to contribute much needed knowledge about factors that impact the graduation and retention rates of African Americans and other diverse student populations in higher education. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the DLE explored how campus climate, campus policies, curricular and co-curricular environments, interplay and impact student outcomes. African Americans were the only group in the study to identify stereotypes and stereotype threat as the biggest barriers to their academic success. This article highlights the challenges African Americans face related to stereotypes and stereotype threat, and contends that interventions designed to improve the achievement and degree attainment of the group must focus on eliminating the power of stereotypes in college environments.Keywords: stereotypes, stereotype threat, degree progressRetaining and graduating students from four-year degree programs is a challenge many postsecondary institutions face nationwide. For years, researchers and practitioners have strived to uncover what factors contribute to students choosing to remain or depart from a college or university. Although the literature offers many insights as to what factors impede the degreecompletion of undergraduates, there has been very little change in the number of students that earned college degrees over the last 70-plus years (Adelman, 2004; Barton, 2002). This fact is evidence that much more research must be done to highlight what institutions can do to support students and increase their chances of graduating.African Americans in particular have one of the lowest retention and degree completion rates nationwide with only 42% earning their bachelor's degree within six years. The national average is 57 percent (U.S. Department of Education, 2009; Note: Data are from the 2001 cohort and includes all first-time, full-time, degree seeking students at all four-year institutions). The Diverse Learning Environments (DLE) project was designed to contribute much needed knowledge about factors that impact the trajectories of African Americans and other diverse student populations. Funded by the Ford Foundation and housed at the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, the DLE specifically sought to comprehend how multiple factors such as campus climate, campus policies, curricular and co-curricular environments, interplay and impact student outcomes (Hurtado et al., 2012). Seven twoand four-year institutions participated in the project. Surveys were administered and focus groups were conducted at each campus. The data collected revealed many important findings about student experiences as they relate to degree completion and retention.One intriguing result came from the student focus groups. Of all the students interviewed at four-year institutions, African Americans were the only group to report struggles with stereotypes. In fact, they explicitly cited stereotypes and stereotype threat as the biggest barriers to their academic success. This finding is significant as stereotype threat has been linked to lower academic achievement and degree incompletion (Fischer, 2010; Steele, 1992, 1997). This article highlights the challenges African Americans face with stereotypes and stereotype threat, and contends that interventions designed to improve the achievement and degree attainment of the group must focus on eliminating the power of stereotypes in college environments.BACKGROUND LITERATUREThe following section presents literature that illuminates the meaning of stereotypes and the theory of stereotype threat. Key research findings are also highlighted, which reveal the impact stereotype threat has on the academic achievement of African American undergraduates.Stereotypes and Stereotype ThreatStereotypes can be defined as gross generalizations applied to a group of people with some level of shared characteristics. Gordon Allport brilliantly defined stereotypes as an exaggerated belief associated with a category . …

The use of adjunct instruction in social work is examined with special attention to potential advantages and disadvantages that are inherent. A comprehensive framework is provided that highlights key issues and provides guidelines for developing a plan to support the coherent use of adjunct instruction in social work education. The framework is organized around four basic components: (1) recruitment and orientation; (2) development and training; (3) retention issues; and (4) overall management of a pool of adjunct faculty. Because the use of adjunct instructors represents a valued opportunity to bring current practitioners into the classroom and is likely to increase in the coming years, a structured approach to utilizing adjunct instructors is especially relevant to social work and social work education.

Adjunct faculty members are an increasingly more significant percentage of instructors at institutions of higher learning. In addition to this rise, adjunct instructors have reported feelings of marginalization and disrespect from their full-time colleagues and their administrations. The following study represents an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of adjunct faculty members at a private, religious institution. The study utilizes self-determination theory as its theoretical lens. Semi-structured interviews with various adjunct instructors identified themes associated with their feelings toward their marginalization and the lack of support structures. The interviews also demonstrated that the diversity of faculty member demographics produced equally diverse experiences. Recommendations from this study include the institution of equitable policies recorded in an adjunct faculty member handbook, production of an adjunct faculty member advancement structure, and professional development opportunities. Future research in the areas of STEM adjunct faculty members, the interaction of full-time and adjunct faculty members, and how adjunct faculty members experience employment across multiple universities would contribute significantly to the understanding of this critical instructional force.--Author's abstract

There's so little contact between part and full-time faculty. I don't even think they know you're alive. You just go in, you do what you do and you go home. If nobody complains about you, I guess they figure you're doing ok ... I went to one workshop ... and I was glad to be there and I was glad to meet some of the people that I only know by their signature on something. That was fine. But you know, I had to go pay my own parking. I had to give up 4 hours' of my time and 2 hours of traveling for an adjunct. We live on hourly wages. It was good, but I just laugh. Giving me a glass of orange juice and a sticky bun does not constitute payment for 6 hours of my life (Johnson, 2007, p. 174). The above quote is from a 40-year adjunct who teaches for several schools. She refers to herself as a R-O-A-D-S Scholar (Johnson, 2007, p. 174). The American Association of University Professors reports that 48% of all faculty in 2005 were part-timers. This number has increased steadily since 1975, when part-time faculty accounted for 30% (American Association of University Professors). Gappa (2000) states many part-time instructors feel anger and frustration over what they perceive as their second-class status (p. 77). These faculty members often feel invisible due to the lack of inclusion they experience in campus or departmental decisions. In addition to the increase in adjunct or part-time instructors, Fletcher and Patrick (1998) explain that higher education in the United States is going through some of the most dramatic changes in its history. Reasons for these significant changes include social, economic, and political factors which involve external forces, such as technology, public skepticism and the call for increased accountability, along with decreased financial support. These issues have impacted the role of faculty. As institutions are scrutinized because of greater-than-inflation tuition increases, they need to demonstrate willingness to improve teaching effectiveness of their faculty (Dotolo, 1999). While this should include both full-time and part-time faculty members, it often does not. The role of the instructor is often more significant in adult programs compared to traditional programs. Studies have demonstrated that traditional students learn significantly from participation in the college environment outside the classroom. In contrast, the classroom is central to the learning in adult students' experience. Adult students attribute the relationships they develop with faculty members and their in-class learning experiences as more meaningful to them than for their traditional-age peers (Imel, 2001). Additionally, research on adults' perceptions of exemplary collegiate instruction suggests that the social aspects of instruction (i.e., development of a community of learners within classes and having a respectful and caring instructor) are critical factors for adult students. A number of researchers have offered evidence that for adults, the classroom is the center stage for their learning (Graham, Donaldson, Kasworm, & Dirkx, 2000). This article focuses on a recently-developed faculty development initiative created to address the needs of a group of adjunct instructors. The goals of the program included informing the adjunct faculty on departmental issues as well as connecting them to the department and the institution in a meaningful way. An inclusive and welcoming environment for all faculty, regardless of part-time or full-time status, is desired. In addition, there is an opportunity available for professional growth for the adjunct instructors. Background Information A private university in the Midwest serves a large number of adult learners at the undergraduate and graduate levels. They hold classes at various locations, including several campuses, corporations, and community colleges. Many of the academic departments employ a large number of adjunct instructors. …

In order to determine the status of business communication instruction in postsecondary institutions in the United States, a random sample of insti tutions was drawn from the mailing lists of five publishers of business communication texts. Data were collected from 344 institutions and were analyzed within three broad categories: institutional information, informa tion about the basic business communication course, and information about other business communication courses. Major differences in business communication instruction were found between two-year and four-year institutions.

PurposeDuring 2016–2020, the number of high school students enrolled at Georgia postsecondary institutions increased by over 110% and public spending on dual enrollment more than doubled (Georgia Student Finance Commission, 2020). Benefits to dual enrollment students include improved college performance and shorter time to graduation (An and Taylor, 2015; Blankenberger et al., 2017), which translates into significant tuition cost savings and higher potential wages (Partridge et al., 2020). In light of these economic benefits, this paper examines the subject-taking patterns of dual enrollment students and factors associated with successful outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyzed longitudinal records of 1,931 dual enrollees at a public, four-year institution in metro-Atlanta during and between the 2015–16 and 2018–19 academic years. They performed a descriptive analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling and regression analysis to examine the relationships between subject enrollment patterns, academic success and student demographics.FindingsFemale students fair better academically as dual enrollees than male students. Black students enroll in fewer and less varied courses. The same is true for students from more affluent neighborhoods, who may feel less need to take advantage of dual enrollment as a pathway to collegiate success. Neighborhood affluency does not appear related to dual enrollment success. Younger dual enrollment students, unsurprisingly complete more courses but do no better or worse academically in the average course. Some academic subjects are much more strongly related to the longevity of a student's dual enrollment than others.Originality/valueThere is limited published research on specific subject-taking patterns and success for dual enrollment students.

This study evaluated the food stores on and near postsecondary campuses varying in institutional size. The design of the study is an environmental audit survey. Fifteen U.S. postsecondary education institutions participated in this study between 2009-2011. Eighty-one stores (44% grocery, 17% campus, and 39% convenience/drug) were evaluated. The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores was modified to evaluate food stores. Analysis. Analysis of variance with post hoc Tukey B and t-tests assessed differences between store types and by institutional size. Grocery stores had significantly higher scores than campus/convenience stores for healthy foods (19.5 ± 3.8 vs. 2.4 ± 1.7), and for the availability (19.5 ± 3.8 vs. 2.4 ± 1.7) and quality (5.9 ± 0.5 vs. 1.8 ± 2.2) of fruits/vegetables (p < .001). Healthy foods and beverages were significantly more expensive (-0.6 ± 3.4 vs. 0.9 ± 2.0; p < .031) than their less healthful alternatives in grocery stores, but not in convenience stores. There were no differences by institutional size for grocery stores; however, smaller institutions' convenience stores had significantly lower availability and quality of fruits/vegetables and total food store environment scores. A college campus provides a food environment with an array of shopping venues, most of which are not consistent with dietary recommendations for obesity prevention. The limited quality of healthy food in on-campus and convenience stores and the exacerbated deficiencies for small postsecondary institutions provide evidence to support environmental and policy initiatives to improve the quality of campus food store environments.

The European Union (EU) has long projected the vision of an integrating Europe, centred on successful regional integration, as a better geopolitical model in comparison to ‘others’, such as the Cold War superpowers, US neoconservativism or diverse autocratic regimes. The purported superiority of the ‘European model’ is thereby linked to credibly advancing the story of successful regional integration – internally as well as externally. This article suggests a narrative continuum between EU-optimism and EU-scepticism and argues that perceptions about the ‘success’ of the EU as a model for regional integration have changed between the first and the second decade of the new millennium. As part of this shift, EU-scepticism has gained in prominence over EU-optimism. This is related to a series of geopolitical ruptures since the late 2000s, in particular, the financial crisis, disputes on human mobility and border management, rising nationalism, Brexit and other right-wing populist movements across the continent. Focussing on the divisions within the EU as regards financial and migration policy, this article highlights three interrelated simultaneities. It argues (a) that process and discourse of (b) integration and disintegration have (c) internal and external dimensions. Empirically, it builds on interviews with African and European geopolitical elites that have been conducted as part of two research projects on external perceptions of the EU in East Africa between 2010 and 2018. It thus offers a snapshot on the shift of both ‘internal’ and ‘external’ perceptions of the EU against the context of wider geopolitical transformations over the course of this decisive decade.

Digitalisation is penetrating higher education (HE) in Russia. The study explores how three Russian universities have been integrating the Skyes digital learning platform to transform English as a foreign language (EFL) educational practices. The article outlines the main characteristics of the platform, recounts the steps in adopting the technology and addresses the emerging changes to learning and teaching. Students’ and teachers’ perceptions are examined to review the implementation process. The research is designed as a case study; the methods used are semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires. The study framework combines the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model for a holistic approach to investigating innovation integration in a university setting. TPACK is used to analyse the changes associated with teachers’ knowledge of technology, pedagogy and content. SAMR helps to reflect on the current use of the platform showcasing technology integration along substitution, augmentation and modification levels. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the factors influencing the implementation of the Skyes platform and proposes recommendations for its successful integration; they highlight the importance of motivation, feedback both from teachers and students, clear assessment of the learning outcomes, TPACK transformation plan and alignment between the innovation and educational regulations.