When students prepare to register for classes, they discover quickly that many sections don't have an instructor's name listed. "Staff" is given instead, generating the obligatory jokes from students. "I hear 'Staff' is Awesome!"
In most cases these sections will be taught by adjunct faculty members, some of whom may not learn of their assignment until right before they step into the classroom.
There are undoubtedly many legitimate reasons for this unfortunate situation. Enrollment surges or declines must be accommodated quickly. Last-minute changes in the schedule are probably inevitable. But most would agree that it's not a good idea if it can be avoided, especially if the instructor has not taught the particular course before. Online classes may be especially problematic.
The Center for the Future of Higher Education, an "advocacy think tank bringing together academics to address current issues of public policy and practice in higher education," recently conducted a survey that points to precise results of such practices. Part-time instructors say their performance is affected negatively when they are asked to teach classes with little notice. Furthermore, they believe that their access to technology and other campus resources is limited when this happens.
The report is called "Who is Professor Staff and How Can This Person Teach So Many Classes?" Here is the press release. It contains links to the full report and other information.
An excerpt:
The report focuses on the working conditions imposed on contingent faculty and the impact of those conditions on students and the quality of the education they receive. In contrast to practices for most full-time faculty, contingent faculty often receive their course assignments shortly before the start of an academic term, sometimes two or three weeks or less, just in time for the start of classes and with little time to prepare a high-quality college-level course.
The problem is exacerbated when university managers fail to provide contingent faculty with full and effective access to the resources and technologies that define quality education in today’s colleges and universities. “College and university administrators are relying more and more on faculty members who are hired on a short-term, so-called ‘temporary’ basis even though these faculty are often rehired term after term.
Our study documents ways in which this unnecessary mismanagement of valuable human resources results in inadequate working conditions that shortchange students and quality education,” said Esther Merves, a co-author of the report and Director of Research & Special Programs for the New Faculty Majority Foundation.
Maria Maisto, a report co-author and Executive Director of the New Faculty Majority Foundation, said, “Dedicated faculty members are able to overcome many of the obstacles, but the point is they should not be encountering such obstacles at all. Students and faculty should not be required to compensate for what colleges refuse to provide. That is unfair to students and not in the best interest of America’s future.”
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