2008 Woodie Awards
Part-time faculty, part-time education
Steve Evans
Issue date:
3/12/08
Section:
Opinion
There is a situation here on campus that affects your education and which all students should be aware of. I became aware of this scheme recently when I sought out one of my professors for advising and could not track him down anywhere. I could not find an office or even a phone number in the Olympic College directory.
When I was able to confer with him, it was on Ohio Street leaning against his car parked at the curb. A file-mate box containing his course materials and graded assignments served as his desk, his back seat his office.
This is how I came upon the knowledge of the bargain-basement education that is surreptitiously delivered to us through the system they call "adjunct faculty."
It seems this system, originally invented to enhance an institution's offerings to its students by providing niche-class instruction and part-time instruction from local business leaders, has been exploited and perverted over the last several decades.
A trend is developing across Washington state with at least two out of every three faculty members teaching at community colleges being adjunct.
At OC, 69 percent of instructors are part-time faculty rather than full-time professors according to the OC 2006-2007 Annual Report.
This left me questioning the wisdom of an education purchased from the back of some car and the desire to delve further into this arrangement.
In my investigation I found many reasons to suspect the quality of instruction that a student may trust to obtain from these wannabe professors.
They are often unprepared to teach a given course; having just been hired days before a class commences. Disjointed from the school and apart from even the division or department from which they teach, there is no conceivable way they can be cognizant of the focus and directives that the division holds. Furthermore, lacking the continuity of teaching a course beyond a single quarterly session how could one expect these instructors to have any authority of the material they are teaching?
When I was able to confer with him, it was on Ohio Street leaning against his car parked at the curb. A file-mate box containing his course materials and graded assignments served as his desk, his back seat his office.
This is how I came upon the knowledge of the bargain-basement education that is surreptitiously delivered to us through the system they call "adjunct faculty."
It seems this system, originally invented to enhance an institution's offerings to its students by providing niche-class instruction and part-time instruction from local business leaders, has been exploited and perverted over the last several decades.
A trend is developing across Washington state with at least two out of every three faculty members teaching at community colleges being adjunct.
At OC, 69 percent of instructors are part-time faculty rather than full-time professors according to the OC 2006-2007 Annual Report.
This left me questioning the wisdom of an education purchased from the back of some car and the desire to delve further into this arrangement.
In my investigation I found many reasons to suspect the quality of instruction that a student may trust to obtain from these wannabe professors.
They are often unprepared to teach a given course; having just been hired days before a class commences. Disjointed from the school and apart from even the division or department from which they teach, there is no conceivable way they can be cognizant of the focus and directives that the division holds. Furthermore, lacking the continuity of teaching a course beyond a single quarterly session how could one expect these instructors to have any authority of the material they are teaching?
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 19
bluechip
posted 3/14/08 @ 6:37 AM PST
This student presents a common misconception that somehow "adjunct" instructors are of lesser quality as perceived among the "wannabee" groupies flittering about in "real" life. (Continued…)
Dawn michele
Dawn Michele Wilson
posted 3/18/08 @ 12:54 AM PST
Funny, this is my 5th quarter here at OC and I had noooo idea this situation even existed until earlier today. I was standing in line at registration and over heard the girl who was at the counter in front of me. (Continued…)
Steven Evans
posted 3/18/08 @ 1:09 AM PST
bluechip-
You may have missed my point by not realizing that the whole editorial was written tongue-in-cheek. I have more at issue with the system and how it can affect student's success than I do the adjunct faculty themselves, individually or as a group. (Continued…)
Courteney
posted 3/19/08 @ 12:12 AM PST
I never knew what TBA stood for. I took a class last quarter that a friend of mine needed to take this next quarter and so I suggested she take it with the same professor. (Continued…)
Steven Evans
posted 3/26/08 @ 10:14 AM PST
To anyone that is interested there will be a board of trustees study session at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, April 22,that will focus on adjunct issues. It is an open session so I encourage everyone to attend. (Continued…)
azarnecka
posted 4/03/08 @ 4:22 PM PST
Well, we have been hearing all these blandishments about great committment and great service for so long it might just take a critical comment from the student to jump-start the discussion about academic apartheid system and its effects. (Continued…)
azarnecka
posted 4/04/08 @ 12:36 PM PST
Students should care because they are affected. The latest issue of Chronicle of Higher Education features the results of a recent study which provides ample evidence that lack of more faculty accessibility/contact has adverse effects on students' success and retention rates. (Continued…)
Leslie Miller
posted 4/08/08 @ 11:03 AM PST
I feel horrible for not jumping into this conversation earlier! Steven your op-ed piece was quite effective at communicating the "other side" of this adjunct story. (Continued…)
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