ADJUNCT FACULTY 1

Running Head: ADJUNCT FACULTY

Improve community colleges by changing the role of adjunct faculty

Tracy J. Montgomery
Community College
HIED 66658
Sandy Robinson, Ph.D.
May 1, 2016

ADJUNCT FACULTY 2
Community colleges have become pivotal to higher education in the United States. The
mere label of community does not carry the connotation, nor paint an accurate picture, of the
overall effect it has on the institution of higher education as a whole, but also the effect it has on
stake holders way beyond those considered to be a part of a local community where the college
resides. Community colleges have provided affordable opportunities for underrepresented
groups, along with unique vocational skills training that are not provided as extensively at
traditional four-year institutions. While it provides many opportunities and continues to increase
in enrollment, community colleges account for almost half of United States undergraduates, yet
less than 40% earn a degree or certificate of some kind within six years (Bailey, Jaggars, &
Jenkins, 2015, p.1). This retention rate is one of the most critical issues facing community
colleges today. The amount of policies, incentives, initiatives, and research is abundant, all in
efforts to improve the retention rate, and each with their own theories and/or ideas for how to
address the issue. One suggestion is to address the critical role of adjunct faculty members, and
how it may or may not directly correlate with student retention rate.
The very creation of the adjunct role in community colleges served as an answer to a
critical issue in the 1960s- the ever-increasing enrollment of students, especially non-traditional,
creating a need for more instruction, and alternative instruction to address those non-traditional
students (Wickun & Stanley, 2000, 2). The convenience of hiring outside professionals who
were much more affordable than creating new full-time positions, quickly spread to four-year
institutions as well. Community colleges, especially, are able to operate on a much cheaper
budget if they keep more adjunct faculty on staff, than full-time employees, and it allows more
flexibility to only hire adjunct professors on a need-be basis (Wickun & Stanley, 2000, 3; Bailey
et al., 2015, p.168). Both community colleges and four-year institutions found the adjunct role to
be more than just a convenience; they have almost made a staple to how the college operates,

ADJUNCT FACULTY 3
especially considering that the majority of faculty appointments at community colleges consist of
part-time faculty (Bailey et al., 2015, p.168). Clearly, adjunct faculty have a great impact on
community colleges.
If adjunct faculty play such a pivotal role in the operation of community colleges, it is
only logical and fair that they be included in any efforts to re-design community colleges to
address the retention rate issue plaguing community colleges today.
Bailey et al. (2015) proposed a guided pathways approach to re-vamping community
colleges to address modern needs and issues, including retention rate. Bailey, et al. believe that,
If part-time faculty and staff are not involved in efforts to design and improve guided pathways,
they cannot be expected to fully understand and successfully implement the underlying
principles in their own work. It seems obvious, then, that part-timers should be included in the
colleges collaborative inquiry process. Yet at some colleges part-time faculty and staff are
isolated and poorly incentivize to participate in such processes (p.168). Though Bailey, et al.
(2015) were addressing a particular reform, the concept remains true of any reform that needs to
take place.
In spite of opposition to the involvement of adjunct faculty in regards to decision-making,
the importance of the adjunct role is undeniable. Stenerson, Blanchard, Fassiotto, Hernandez,
and Muth (2010) acknowledged that adjunct faculty, or in their words, Professoriate,
sometimes offer expertise beyond what some full-time faculty can provide, can often provide
examples of how the course material is used in their profession, and many adjuncts will mentor
their students, even though it is beyond their expectations ( 22, 23). With such value added by
the adjunct role, adjuncts may play an even more positive role in the community college
atmosphere if they are entrusted with such initiative. Adjuncts are already working for less
compensation than their full-time counterparts, and many are going above and beyond their
expected role, and are entrusted with the care of students and students education, it only seems

ADJUNCT FACULTY 4
right that they also participate in any reform that community college leaders want to see happen
now and in the future.
In order to reform community colleges to increase the retention rate of students, leaders
of community colleges need to, first, acknowledge the importance of adjunct faculty, then,
secondly, involve them in the reform in some way, shape, or form. Since it is not entirely
common to include adjunct faculty for such a purpose, leaders need to turn to recent research and
take advantage of the plethora of resources that have recently made an effort to push this very
issue. For example, The Center for Community College Student Engagement (2014) has many
free, readily available resources on their website. One particular pamphlet is geared specifically
to Strengthening the Role of Part-Time Faculty in Community Colleges, which offers a stepby-step plan on how to make this new relationship between college leaders, full-time faculty, and
adjuncts come to fruition. Much of the overall research has been done, but this is just one of
many sources that can aid leaders into how to involve adjunct faculty in a meaningful and
productive way, specifying to the needs of each particular college. In addition to CCCSE (2014),
Achieving the Dream (2016) provides a plethora of information that can help reform for todays
community college needs, but they also created The Engaging Adjunct Faculty in the Student
Success Movement initiative which seeks to address the opportunities and challenges faced by
colleges in engaging part-time faculty in the student success agenda through policy and
practices. If community colleges truly want to reform for the purpose of retention rate, it only
makes sense to have all the right team members involved.
References
Achieving the Dream (2016). Engaging Adjunct Faculty in the Student Success Movement
Request for Proposals [This initiative is funded through the generous support of The

ADJUNCT FACULTY 5
Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and Great Lakes Higher Education
Guaranty Corporation.]. (2016, March 31). Silver Spring.
Bailey, T., Jaggars, S., & Jenkins, D. (2015). Redesigning America's
community colleges: A clearer path to student success (p. 286).
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Center for Community College Student Engagement. (2014). Strengthening the Role of PartTime Faculty in Community Colleges [PDF]. Center for Community College Student
Engagement.
Stenerson, J., Blanchard, L., Fassiotto, M., Hernandez, M., & Muth, A. (2010). The Role of
Adjunct in the Professoriate. Peer Review, 12(3), summer. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
Wickun, W. G., & Stanley, R. E. (2000). The Role of Adjunct Faculty in Higher Education.
Montana Professor, Winter(2000), 1-6. Retrieved April 25, 2016.