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
Rio Salado College Model for
Adjunct Faculty Development
Laura Helminski - COM / RDG Faculty Chair, Faculty Development Coordinator
Our model for Adjunct Faculty Development is based on the philosophy that, given clear expectations and on-going support, adjunct faculty provide full-time excellence in teaching and learning. Therefore, we work with Rio Salado College adjunct faculty on many levels. We really appreciate all that they do for the college and our students since they are our instructors.
The framework for our model includes components of Rio's culture as these relate to adjunct faculty and effective teaching and learning: hiring, training, ongoing communication, and ongoing support. Each of these components focuses on up-to-date college-level information, discipline-specific and course-specific information, and program or delivery information, so there is a great deal of year-round activity.
Hiring
- Faculty Chairs work with Faculty Services for interviews, orientation, and teaching assignments.
Training
- Clear expectations and established / sample syllabi are shared.
- We have formal and informal training and workshop opportunities, many of which are on-going since we are not tied to traditional semester start dates. Orientations are necessary and are presented by the FaST Team (Faculty Support Team) and by the Faculty Chairs. Orientation topics include Getting to Know Rio, Rio Departments, Using voice Mail, Course Materials and Forms, etc.
- Mentoring adjunct faculty is important, and is done by the Faculty Chairs and by Discipline Mentors, who are experienced adjunct faculty.
- We have professional development workshops every semester. Topics this semester focus on "Effective Writing Assignments," "Activated Learning," "Teaching Diversity - Teaching Inclusiveness," "Using Electronic Resources to Enhance Teaching and Learning," "Classroom Assessment Techniques," and " Effective PowerPoint Presentations."
- Faculty Chairs prepare and distribute discipline and course materials to adjunct faculty that include syllabi, lessons, assignments, resources, discipline policies and guidelines, and college policies. These materials are available in binders or on-line.
We distribute two videos to faculty: Keys to Instruction and Distance Learning Instruction. The videos and accompanying manuals are intended for new adjunct faculty and for faculty who are interested in increasing their effectiveness in the classroom or as distance learning instructors.
Ongoing Communication
- We have three All Faculty Meetings a year where we have keynote speakers, workshops, assessment dialogues, and discipline or department dialogues. Several hundred adjunct faculty participate in these meetings.
- Faculty Chairs have ongoing communication with our adjunct faculty during the semester regarding how to handle student complaints, evaluations, curriculum, etc. Real-time meetings, e-mail sessions, and teleconference sessions occur frequently.
- Adjunct Faculty are asked to become involved in course development, assessment work, selection of textbooks, etc. Focus group sessions this year will concentrate on student assessment and learning. Adjunct faculty choose which opportunities to participate in and may be paid stipends for specific work.
- Discipline specific workshops and meetings focus on current issues and other instructional topics.
Ongoing Support
- Support of adjunct faculty is college wide. In addition to the Faculty Chairs, other departments that work directly with adjunct faculty include Faculty Hiring, the Faculty Support Team (FaST), Course Support, Site Supervisors, and Couriers. We work very hard to have the college Pride Factors be characteristics of our on-going support for our adjunct faculty: quality, convenience, timeliness, accuracy, and innovation.
