(Page 1 of 4) - A Day-Long Adjunct Training Institute authored by Cummings, Rhona.

Proposal for a Roundtable Discussion of an Adjunct Training Institute

Section I: Content

A. Statement of the issue: Adjunct faculty recruitment and training. In this
round table discussion, the presenter will chronicle the attempts of a
Department of Curriculum and Instruction in a rural area of the mid-south to
recruit and train a cadre of adjunct faculty for both initial licensure and
advanced programs.

Background Inform ation: The department has lost 25% of its full-time faculty
to retirement and to promotion/non-teaching assignments. There has been
an increase in credit hour production at both the graduate and undergraduate
levels within the past year, and cohorts are offered in venues up to 100 miles
away, further stretching the full-time tenured/tenure track. Searches have
been cancelled for financial reasons, leaving the department dependent upon
hiring adjunct faculty to assist in program delivery. A request to the provost
for more faculty was turned down, so the department will be forced to use
adjuncts to teach about 20 of its courses each semester. This is a plight
similar to that of other institutions.

Broader Context: The question which presents itself is: How does one “cover”
classes and maintain the integrity of the existing program, assure high quality
student learning, and continue to move forward improve existing programs?
In the author’s first year as department chair, adjuncts were hired at the last
minute, and fingers were kept crossed that there would be a faculty member
for every class. Every class was covered, but this was not an experience the
author wanted to repeat. It is vital to have a plan in place to best leverage
available resources.

The author envisioned having a cadre of potential adjuncts from which to
choose the most qualified for available courses. She also wanted to make
sure that these adjuncts were well-versed in the standards, the curriculum,
and the performance assessment measures being used to monitor candidate
advancement. To that end, she contacted approximately 30 school districts
within a 100-mile radius of the university, requesting letters of interest,
resumes or vitae, and reference letters from teachers and administrators
interested in adjunct teaching. Resumes and references were considered
before approximately 50 respondents were invited to a one-day adjunct
training session. The session was planned to introduce potential adjuncts to
the unit standards, the goals and mission of the College of Education and the
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and the assessment points of the
program. After a morning devoted to an overview of these items, as well as
an introduction to the technology available, potential adjuncts heard about all
of the programs within the department. They then had a chance to meet with
program coordinators and full-time campus faculty to talk specifically about
different courses and how they are taught. All of these steps, as well as the
instruments used in the training, will be shared in the roundtable presentation.