normative expectations of adjunct work
With apologies in advance for anyone who may have seen this on another venue, I could use a little advice. I've been asked to make a very quick decision about teaching next year, and I'm curious about what is considered normative in adjunct work. Certainly teaching and all of the tasks associated with it are included, but are adjuncts ever asked to provide other services to their departments (and under what circumstances are those reasonable requests)? Do adjuncts ever serve on committees? Serve as faculty advisors for students, graduate or undergraduate? Otherwise advise students on research even if they aren't enrolled in classes you're currently teaching? Participate in departmental seminars? Guest lecture in courses taught by tenure-track faculty? Does it make a difference if the adjunct in question otherwise works full-time at a research center in the same university (with or without additional compensation or reduction in research load) or if they are being hired solely for the purposes of teaching a course?
Short version, with the understanding that context matters and what constitutes "reasonable" may vary, which services are considered reasonable for adjuncts to provide and which are not reasonable for departments to expect or request?
2 Replies
Post ReplyMr. Boxer, Adjunct working conditions vary a lot, but it is not normative for part-time instructors to take on extra advising, committee or service work, because it is not technically part of their paid contracts just to teach. Adjuncts are not paid for such duties. Some adjuncts do undertake those responsibilities at their own discretion, however. Professional societies like the Organization of American Historians have promulgated best employment practices for adjuncts that urge extra payment for service and administrative duties. Participation in department seminars is another issue. Adjuncts would not be paid for it, but many of us do it anyway as part of professional development. As long-time adjunct activist, I have never heard that employment elsewhere in the institution as a researcher would require advising and service work in conjunction with an additional employment taken on as an adjunct. On this whole question, you can contact AAUP for its advice.
Donald Rogers
Adjunct Lecturer in History
Central Connecticut State U
Former Chair, OAH Committee on Part-Time, Adjunct and Contingent Employment
Sometimes there are rules against adjuncts serving on committees (either service to the university or on master's/dissertation committees), but they vary greatly depending upon the institution. A full-time lecturer or researcher or something like that, may have other duties outside of teaching specified in their contracts or in the faculty handbook that outlines the duties of the position. However, an adjunct hired to teach on a per course basis generally is only contracted to teach and provide the normal services outside of the classroom of a teacher (grading, planning lectures, etc.) Personally, I think that it is unreasonable for a department to ask anyone to do something beyond the duties stated in their contracts or faculty handbook. However, there are many situations (such as those you bring up in the post), where you might decide to do more than your contracted duties on your own. It is unlikely that you would be paid to do anything other than teaching. Perhaps, however, you'd like some administrative experience outside of teaching, or you'd like to integrate more into the department or institution, and you are willing to volunteer your time to do other things. In that case, you might consider taking a few lectures for a colleague, attending faculty meetings, or whatever it may be. Some faculty will resist an adjunct trying to get more involved in a department, in other cases, adjuncts are welcomed. The important thing is that you go into each situation with your eyes wide open. Whenever you decide to do something outside of the duties defined in your contract, your colleagues will expect you to keep doing it, and you are unlikely to ever get paid for it, no matter how time consuming or how far outside the normal duties of an adjunct.