On "The New College Campus"

As reported in the New York Times today:

"The Just-In-Time Professor," released last month by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, describes a growing population of more than one million adjunct and other nontenure-track instructors. "In 1970, adjuncts made up 20 percent of all higher education faculty," the report says. "Today, they represent half."

It’s also worth checking out the discussion here:

 

"the new college campus, rife with adjuncts and administrators, does not seem geared to fulfill its mission" http://t.co/OqW3u3ofVU

— Josh Boldt (@josh_boldt) February 17, 2014

 

In this post, I’d like to suggest that there is another "mission" of universities that "the new college campus, rife with adjuncts and administrators, does not seem geared to fulfill," and that is supporting diverse communities of inquiry. Many colleges and universities in the U.S. declare that they aim to develop and support inclusive learning environments. Can learning environments be genuinely inclusive—or even genuine communities—when some "members" of these "communities" are systematically excluded from full and equal participation in the day-to-day affairs of the institution?

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Comments

[Elisa Freschi]

Moti, I am intrigued by the last part of your post. One cannot but share the concerns of adjuncts and other non-tenured and vulnerable faculty staff. But why do you especially highlight the lack of equal participation to the "day-to-day affairs of the institution"? What I lack is the fact that I cannot have any role in the decision making process. But I am not grateful that I have to sit at boring meetings where day-to-day affairs are discussed, take care of the first aid, etc. And the two do not go together (at least, they did not go together in my case, I only got the boring part with no influence on the important one).

[Moti Mizrahi]

Hi Elisa,

Thanks very much for your comment. You are right, of course, that adjuncts and other contingent faculty often have no say in decision making. I was thinking about the fact that they are also excluded from full participation in the sort of activities that make a college or a university an intellectual community, such as mentoring students, organizing conferences, collaborating with colleagues, being nominated for teaching awards, and attending meeting, workshops, and events. I guess my point is that there are certain prerequisites for being a member of a community (an intellectual community, in the case of colleges and universities) and it seems that, in the case of adjuncts and contingent faculty, some of these prerequisites are not being met (or, you can’t be a member of a community when your name is “Staff”: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/23/adjunct-survey-paints-bleak-picture-working-conditions ).