Power and potential: Engaging adjunct faculty as leaders and agents of change

Abstract

This chapter presents the experiences of adjunct faculty in the SAGE 2YC: Faculty as Change Agents project through the stories of five participants who share the influence of the project on them and their work. We describe the professional development that occurred in the project, which included learning with colleagues from across the country, implementing changes in their classroom teaching and beyond, and leading follow-on workshops in teams on campus and/or in the region. The participant stories illustrate how the project gave them agency and validated their work. Adjunct faculty make important contributions to student and faculty success, and there is power in engaging adjunct faculty as leaders and change agents and fully realizing their potential.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Transactional and Stopgap Relationships Between Community College Department Chairs and Their Adjuncts

“…Previous research supports adjunct development and relationships as a significant stressor for community college department chairs (Prentice & Guillaume, 2021). Postsecondary practitioners can improve day-to-day practices within the field of higher education administration through focused intentional efforts to humanize adjunct faculty within their institutions (Layou et al, 2022). Initial efforts should include conducting interviews for adjuncts when they are being hired to foster a greater professional relationship at the beginning of their institutional experience (Wicks et al, 2020).…”

“…The opportunity includes allowing adjunct faculty to conduct a teaching demonstration to offer department chairs first-hand observation of their educational philosophy in action (Ortiz et al, 2021). Additionally, making greater use of institutional obligations can build academic fellowship with adjunct faculty to cultivate a stronger faculty or academic culture (Layou et al, 2022). Examples include, but are not limited to, inviting adjuncts to participate in discussions on quality instruction (Anthony et al, 2020;Linder, 2012).…”

Diversity by design: Broadening participation through inclusive teaching

“…These collaborations are particularly important for adjunct colleagues who may wish to engage at a deeper level (see Chapter 9 by Layou et al. 2022 in this volume).…”

The role two‐year colleges play in unlearning racism in the geosciences (URGE)

“…Due to the contingent nature of their contracts, adjunct faculty are generally overworked and underpaid (e.g., Nica, 2018); the authors are asking institutions to support faculty both in monetary compensation and in professional development (see Chapter 9 by Layou et al. 2022 in this volume).…”