Fostering a Community of Inclusiveness and Respect: Celebrating our Adjunct Faculty -- Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, Vice-Chancellor Academic and Student Affairs

“We must not allow the boundaries of exclusion to restrict educational opportunity.  We must think beyond them and us.  My passion is to help the Maricopa Community Colleges create a culture of empowerment and inclusiveness on every campus and in every classroom.”  (Chancellor Glasper’s comments in Beyond Boundaries, 2004)

It is an honor to be part of an institution that encourages us to be inclusive, to show respect, and to celebrate those who have chosen to be part of our community, and who gift us every day with their talent, time, and commitment to make a difference in the lives of our students.  Our adjunct faculty members are part of that community.

Currently, in the United States adjunct faculty members provide approximately 40% of the instruction in institutions of higher education.  And it is no different in Maricopa.  We now have more than 4,000 individuals teaching for us on a part-time basis.  At least 50% of our courses are taught by adjunct faculty.   They are important members of our community, and bring diversity to our classrooms:  We have both new graduates and veterans teaching; we have both female and male adjuncts; our adjunct faculty come from varied disciplines and applied arenas; they come from every walk of life and a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds; they represent diverse geographic locales.  Some even reside outside of Maricopa County.  They bring with them many talents, and draw knowledge from their life and professional experiences to enrich learning for our students.

Our adjunct faculty members have chosen have to be part of our community because they care about our students and their success.  They play an important role in the education and lives of our students.  It has been said that students remember their teachers more than they remember anything else about their college experience. That is why all Maricopa faculty, regardless of rank, have the same responsibility to create an environment conducive to learning for our students. Our students should not be aware of whether or not their instructors are teaching full time or part time. The quality of instruction should not be dependent on employment status.

Our adjunct faculty members play a very significant role in the delivery of quality instruction at our colleges, and because of the value they add to our institution, it is incumbent upon us to engage them in all aspects of our culture.  We must promote and support their induction into the college culture.  They need to be encouraged and welcomed to participate in professional development opportunities and orientations, curriculum development activities, academic planning, and other college and district-wide efforts.   

In 1995, Mark Milliron, John Rouche, and Suanne Rouche published a study that explored key issues surrounding adjunct faculty in the community college.  In their book Strangers in Their Own Land: Part-Time Faculty in the American Community College, they posed a challenge to us:  “We urged community college leaders to explore and adopt best practice models in recruiting, selecting, orienting, developing, evaluating, and culturally integrating these key instructors, and to end the benign neglect of such a powerful and pervasive cohort of teachers.”  I encourage us to work collaboratively to assess what progress we have made and how we can continue to enhance the support we provide to our adjunct faculty.   We must share responsibility for student success.  Student Success is everyone’s business.