Big Foot, Area 51, Adjunct Faculty, and Other Urban

Legends

Warning

• The ideas presented today may be offensive to those who lack a sense of humor. If you have no sense of humor, turn back now…

Joe Edenfield, DeanPaul D. Camp Community College

Dick Wilt, DeanEastern Shore Community College

Things we don‟t know enough about…• And other stuff that bothers us…

• Big Foot

• Aliens (Area 51)

• Adjunct Faculty

• Various Urban Legends

• Harry Potter (did Snape really kill Dumbledore?)

• Many, Many More….

Big Foot

• Alexander the Great demanded that one be brought to him

• 400 years later Pliny (Roman historian) wrote about them…

• Cryptozoology Search for creatures rumored to exist

So you don‟t believe in Big Foot

• That‟s OK…

• He doesn‟t believe in you either…

Adjunct Faculty

• Associate Faculty• Temporary

Faculty• Reserve Faculty• Percentage

Instructors• Academic

Underclass• Roads Scholars• Plug and Play

Professors

• Freeway Flyers• Necessary Evils• MIA‟s • Invisible and

Expendable• Pretend Professors• Grunts• Slave-Wage Paper

Graders

Who are they?

Remarkably like the full-time faculty…

White

84%

Black

7%

Native American

1%

Asian

3%

Hispanic

5%

Other

16%

4 categories for adjunct faculty classification (Gappa and Leslie)

• Career-enders

• Specialists/Experts

• Aspiring Academics

• Freelancers

Why do adjuncts teach?

• Extrinsic

• Intrinsic

Are they or aren‟t they???

• Adjunct faculty teaching effectiveness• Depends on who you ask…

√ Ernst and McFarlance (1978) –- No√ Cruise (1980) –- Yes√ Morano (1983) –- Yes√ Boggs (1984) -- Yes√ Gappa and Leslie (1993) –- Yes√ Bolge (1995) -- Yes√ Rouche, Rouche, and Milliron -- Yes√ Jacobs (1998) –- No √ McArthur (1999) –- No

They may look like full-timers but they don‟t act like „em.

By 2 to 1 adjuncts -

•Spend less time with students outside of class

•Have no interaction with colleagues

•Know less about college services for students

2004 National Study of Post-secondary Faculty. US DOE

Why do you use them?

Different reasons for different disciplines?•General education disciplines•OT disciplines

The big three:•Flexibility (we can fire them guilt free)•They are cheap•Their content expertise

It matters because their needs differ.

Are they important?

• Yes • Adjunct Faculty make up 67% of community

college faculty in USA

• AACC says that we should keep in mind that full-time faculty members teach most of the credit hours

• Hmmmm….

What about the VCCS?

• According to SCHEV 52% of VCCS credits are taught by adjunct faculty members….

What about my school?

Blue Ridge 45.2%

Central Virginia 53.9%

D.S. Lancaster 48.1%

Danville 50.7%

Eastern Shore 47.8%

Germanna 61.4%

J.S. Reynolds 61.0%

John Tyler 65.3%

Lord Fairfax 51.6%

Mountain Empire 43.8%

New River 47.9%

Northern Virginia 42.9%

Patrick Henry 46.8%

Paul D. Camp 55.5%

Piedmont Virginia 57.1%

Rappahannock 50.3%

Southside Virginia 58.9%

Southwest Virginia 46.3%

Thomas Nelson 52.2%

Tidewater 57.7%

Virginia Highlands 41.1%

Virginia Western 57.3%

Wytheville 66.8%

SCHEV 2004 ROIE

Food for thought…

Increasing enrollment Increasing use of adjuncts

Who is going to do the curriculum development,committee assignments, advising, student clubs,

and other duties as assigned?

No problem – just ask for more money

The “exemplary” programs youread about in the literature areprobably not realistic for therest of us.

Are you going to hire anadjunct faculty coordinator?

The Invisible FacultyGappa & Leslie

Strangers in Their Own LandRoueche, Roueche & Milliron

“We are not loved!”

Solutions -

• ASK THEM • Find out who they

are– How long they‟ve

been there– What discipline– Their motivation for

teaching

• YOU (Deans, VPs) create developmentprograms

Think about this…

• Demographically similar to FT Faculty

• But, the legend is:– They are all alike

– Truth is they aren‟t• Different motivations

• Longevity

• Disciplines are different

• Campuses vary

• It‟s not just teaching

Urban Legend -- Nostradamus

• In 1555 Nostradamus wrote:“Come the millennium, month 12

In the home of the greatest power,

The village idiot will come forth

to be acclaimed the leader”

True or False

Urban Legend – The Price is Right

• The week after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans…

• Bob Barker gave away a speed boat and an all expense paid trip to New Orleans

True or False

Joe Edenfield interviews prospective

adjunct

Adjunct at professional development activity on

campus

Adjunct spotted actually arriving on campus to meet class.

Nursing adjunct giving demonstration.