Fall 2000
Vol 9 Issue 1
IN THIS ISSUE...
A Conversation with Anna Solley
Professional Development for Adjuncts
Adjunct Faculty Collegial Support Partnership Program
Rio Salado College Model for Adjunct Faculty
ASSIDERE
Adjunct Faculty Involvement in Student Outcomes Assessment
SEE ALSO...
The Labyrinth
Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction
Professional Development for Adjuncts--
It's not an oxymoron!
Warren Mosby, MCC, President, Adjunct Faculty Association
Adjunct faculty are a numerous and varied bunch. Recently, when the Adjunct Faculty Association asked the district personnel office for a mailing list of adjunct faculty, we received 4,454 names and addresses in return. That's a lot, especially if compared with about 1,100 full-time faculty.
According to current budget figures, the number of adjuncts equates to 1,521 Full Time Equivalents (FTE's) and the number of residential faculty equates to 1,151 FTE's. This means that adjuncts represent 57% of the FTE's, so we probably teach at least half of the classes. Most of us have full-time jobs. Many of us teach the night shift. Some of us, myself included, have never set foot in a College of Education and have taken only one education course, the famous EDU 250.
So, when MCLI asked me to write something about the faculty development needs of adjunct faculty, I had to ask how much space I could have. We need faculty development programs; especially for people like me.
We need to learn the education lingo. When I first heard someone talk about collaborative learning, I was not sure what it meant. Fortunately, the first teacher who observed my class and berated me for not using that instructional technique was then kind enough to explain it to me. But when I first heard about service learning, I thought we were going to emphasize courses for the service industry. I know that there are even a few residential faculty who do not know what service learning means. I know this because I asked them. We also need to learn about the various instructional techniques and learning methods. I may not be using the proper terminology because I am still learning what I do not know about this business. What I am trying to say is that we need help to become better teachers! It will be a challenge to provide this help. As I mentioned, many of us each the night shift. During the day, we have full-time jobs. This means that we may need to schedule short courses and seminars on Saturday or run them on Monday and Tuesday nights or Wednesday and Thursday nights because most of us teach MW or TTh. Perhaps, MCCD could offer some sort of condensed "teacher certification" program that would include a series of courses and seminars that might help us understand the theory and how to implement it in practice. Our current Chancellor, Dr. Fred Gaskin, is famous for developing a "grow your own" policy at Cerritos College. This program seeks to put more trained teachers in the public school system, especially minority teachers. Why not have a similar program for training MCCD adjuncts?
We should have incentives as well. MCCD might offer more pay to adjuncts who successfully complete the program. There are community colleges in the U.S. that do this. For example, Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, AK, awards a 6% pay increase to those adjuncts who have completed 35 hours of faculty development classes on subjects such as adult learning modes, diverse learning styles, and alternative delivery methods. Charles County Community College in La Plata, MD, has a three-tiered process for faculty development that pays adjuncts an additional 5-10% for completing each tier. These adjuncts are also recognized at an employee awards banquet.
This summer I updated a survey of adjunct pay and benefits at 162 community colleges around the U.S. I found that fully 89 community colleges, or 55%, have a salary scale for adjuncts based on qualifications such as longevity, educational level and, in some cases, self-improvement by participating in faculty development activities.
As a start, MCCD might provide a faculty development program for adjuncts. Perhaps, the various departments at the colleges could be persuaded to allow adjuncts who participate in such programs priority in class assignments. Ultimately, MCCD should consider instituting an adjunct pay-scale which would provide an incentive for all adjuncts to improve their teaching skills. That would be a win-win-win situation for MCCD, our adjuncts, and our students.
If you have any questions or comments about this article, please email me at wamosby@email.msn.com
