Community colleges, like many higher-educational institutions, are increasingly using part-time, adjunct faculty to teach their courses.
At our On Campus blog, Kirk Carapezza says a new report finds part-time faculty spend less time preparing for class, advising students and giving written feedback to students.
But Kay McClenney, the author of the study, says that’s in part because they’re not given the tools and training they need to be better teachers.
“It’s not that they’re incapable and it’s not that they don’t want to,” McClenney said. “It’s that the institutions are not providing the kinds of support, the kinds of professional development and orientation to exchange information about effective teaching that are typically provided for full-time faculty.”
The study says adjunct, or part-time teachers, aren’t given standard things like enough office space, orientation and preparation time. And now, because of current economic pressures, adjuncts now teach nearly 60 percent of all community college courses.
