unafilliated or multiaffilicated: exploring adjunctification in higher ed

Rebecca J. Hogue @rjhogue | Jeffrey M. Keefer @JeffreyKeefer

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UnAffiliated or MultiAffiliated: Exploring Adjunctification in

Higher Ed

Rebecca J. Hogue | Jeffrey M. Keefer#dLRN15 (Digital Learning in Higher Education) Conference

Making Sense of Higher Education 2015Stanford University, Stanford, California

October 16-17, 2015


Who are you? = What do you do?


Study Here

uOttawa Teach here UMB

Live hereSanta Clara CA Live

Here:NYC

TeachHere:

Pace U

TeachHere:NYU

TeachHere:UMB


Adjunct? Contingent? Part-Time? Contract?Lecturer?Visiting?

What terms do you hear or use for those who teach in higher education on a per-course or non-permanent basis?

Adjunct, part-time, contingent, temporary, casual, visiting, or non-permanent instructors across higher education in the U.S. account for 76% of all university teaching

(American Association of University Professors, n.d.). cc: MTSOfan - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8628862@N05


Contract Examples

The Good(real example)• $6000+ for 13-week

course• Instructor autonomy• 48/hr response (business

days only)

The Bad (real example)• $98/student no minimum,

8-week course• 24/hr student response (7-

days/week)• Min two sync sessions• Mark all assignments with

5 business days


Questionable practices

• No advanced warning – contracts are issued less than a week before classes begin

• Classes/contracts are cancelled without warning

• Education doctorates that require unpaid (or worse where the student pays) to be a TA or instructor for a course


Narratives Considerations• Is adjuncting a career, a path, or something

else?• Is flexible academic work exploitive or

empowering?• What effect does adjuncting have on

disciplines, theory, practice, and research?• How does organized labor / unions manage

knowledge workers?• How do contracts, appointments,

advancement, access, and equity work for part-time instructors?


Narratives Considerations• What does power and privilege mean

when considering contract academics?• Is adjunct online teaching freeing,

exploitive, or something else?• Who really cares about research if tenure

is not a possibility?• Is there a narrative at all or are the

voices too diverse?

What other questions need to be asked?