Inviting the "Outsiders" In: Local Efforts to Improve Adjunct Working Conditions

Abstract

An adjunct turned writing program administrator reflects on her professional journey and describes efforts to improve the teaching environment amongst composi- tion faculty—primarily part-time—within her department. Based on a local program review, a pilot faculty relations plan was implemented that addressed two major areas: offering more professional development opportunities and creating improved communi- cation across the composition faculty. Interviews and surveys conducted with the faculty emerged affective themes that demonstrated adjunct faculty indeed felt more valued in their roles during and after the plan's implementation, while some remained uncertain about their job stability and place within the university. The author concludes that by attending to the professional needs of adjuncts and heightening awareness around the challenge of contingency labor in teaching, universities and departments can tap into the deep reservoirs of knowledge and experience adjuncts bring to their teaching and build positive futures for basic writing professionals while working for institutional change.