..Just A Little Respect...

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T" ...Aretha Franklin was singing about adjunct faculty members.  

Perhaps she just didn't know it at the time, but Aretha was singing about the lives we live in the contingent faculty world.  Spelling out our needs and reviewing our plight, her song leads us to what adjunct faculty have been saying about how a little respect can go a long way to make us feel better.   Let me tell you a little about her alphabetical reprise on adjunct faculty.

R - Adjuncts want RESPECT shown to them from their full-time faculty counter-parts.   We want some indication that the college or university respects us for how we assist them in providing for their students.  That includes, being able to keep the doors open and making courses available for the students so they can fulfill their dreams and complete their education.

E - Experience.  Adjunct faculty want to feel Respect for the wealth of real world EXPERIENCE we bring to the classroom.  We are subject matter experts in ways that are unique to part-time instructors.  As stated in so many arenas, students should leave college with a readiness to either enter the job market or go on to further their education.  Adjuncts know quite well, what graduates need to be successful in the job market, today.

S - Support.  Aretha was singing about the SUPPORT that all faculty need to do their jobs well.  However, in the adjunct world, it's also the simple things that need to be considered.  As many have noted, adjuncts are often required to hold office hours (see Stacey Patton's article in the March 28th Chronicle of Higher Education- "The Adjunct is In.  But is She Getting Paid?" However, as noted, many do not have office space.  It's not that adjuncts don't want to hold office hours, they just have no place to meet.

Perhaps, Franklin should have used several "S"s in her song, because it also stands for the adjuncts' need for some sense of SECURITY by allowing them to have contracts for more than one semester at a time.  And a part in SHARED-GOVERNANCE wouldn't be bad either.  SENSITIVITY to what adjunct faculty have experienced for all of their hard work at low wages would be a nice touch, too.  Adjuncts are not "just the help" (author's quote).

P - Some of us would enjoy the POSSIBILITY of PERMANENT employment as full time faculty members.  Perhaps, a PENSION fund or ability to have a retirement fund would show some respect for what contingent faculty bring to the classroom.  The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) indicated in their 2010 National Survey of Part-Time/Adjunct Faculty that half of all adjuncts would like to become full-time faculty members. 

E - Ah yes; you knew we would get to EARNINGS.  Adjuncts need to be paid for their work at levels commensurate with the work they do in the classroom; what they do to they prepare for classes; the help they provide to students on an individual basis (even if it's not in an office they can call theirs); and for the meetings they need to attend.  As an ethical issue, adjuncts need to be paid a living wage.

C - Respect is also shown to part-time faculty through such simple things as offering CONTRACTS that are longer than one semester at a time.  Colleges plan several semesters ahead at any given time.  While the number of students per semester may vary, we can usually define the number of sections of any one course that will be needed.  As courses go, so go the adjuncts.

T- Ms. Franklin's song would be remiss if it didn't mention TEACHING.  The research shows that often adjunct faculty members are rated more highly than their full-time colleagues.  That should not be surprising since TEACHING is their primary interest and primary role.  They love it or they wouldn't be doing it with all of the work they do every semester, while being paid so little and not receiving benefits.  They are good at TEACHING.  They know the practical side of the course content to add to the theoretical views expressed in their texts and by full-time faculty.  

So, R-E-S-P-E-C-T our adjunct faculty members.  And yes, we know it's a two way street.  We all need to show respect to each other in academe.