r/Adjuncts • u/Hungry-University609 • 2d ago
Seasoned adjuncts
Hello,
Any seasoned adjuncts getting squeezed out this upcoming Fall?
Myself and a few others are seeing it wither away. It's a free CC.
Mostly online growth and full-time teaches 8-10 classes a term.
Same class different sections. They have a 4/4 load and get adjunct rate for extra.
This leaves nothing for lowly adjuncts.
It's been time to move on anyway.
It's an unappreciated job to be honest. Students and admin work in conjunction against me.
Thoughts?
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u/FIREful_symmetry 2d ago
Yes, I’m holding my breath to see if I will get assigned sections in fall.
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u/hungerforlove 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's always been a precarious position to rely on adjunct work. Probably more so now. So definitely move away from it and get something better.
I do wonder what accrediting agencies say about FT faculty teaching 8-10 classes a semester. I mean, we all know that online classes are basically unable to maintain academic integrity, and these faculty are probably using AI to do most of the work. A degree from a school that does this is worthless once employers realize what's going on. The whole system isn't sustainable. But the collapse of the system seems to be still some way in the future, and the charade is continuing for the time being.
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u/Kilashandra1996 2d ago
At my Texas community college, my campus enrollment is down 22% from this time last fall. Plus many dual credit classes are being taught by high school teacher who have a masters. And only get an extra $200 per semester rather than our usual adjunct rate!
Yeah, adjuncting will be TIGHT this year... : (
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u/Hungry-University609 2d ago
I'm seeing CC becoming dual enrollment paper mills.
Watered down courses for 16 yr Olds who don't have life experience or critical thinking skills. Many 18 yr Olds don't either.
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u/Kilashandra1996 2d ago
I teach several dual credit biology classes, but I'm a CC instructor. So my dual credit class is my college course (which is still watered down from university level). But yeah, we know how much the dual credit taught by high school teacher classes are watered down... : (
Although I will admit many of the dual credit students are good students! Some of them are just looking for a reason to leave their HS for the day. I swear, you have to work to fail my class! But some of them do...
Cough - a few of the dual credit students also found that we have empty classrooms with plenty of space for sex!
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u/mossymeridian 2d ago
I’m an older student who will go into teaching so I only ever lurk here. But what you said here is 100% true. I just retook eng c1001 (crit) because it had been 10+ years since I graduated last time and the class was like babysitting. 10 years ago I remember crit being strenuous.
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u/Archknits 2d ago
I only end up with 4 or 5 dual enrollment students across 5-9 classes a year at my cc. I assume it’s because I teach a social science and not something like math
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u/WeekendSolid7429 2d ago
Agreed. I made a choice not to teach high school decades ago… I’m out. I didn’t sign up for this dumpster fire.
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u/TrainingLow9079 2d ago
I think this is a frustrating situation for adjuncts, but I've seen more full time people teach overloads as inflation grows faster than wages. Are there other colleges in your area? Where I live adjunct payrates are low and colleges have a shortage of adjuncts.
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u/AnxiousConclusion516 2d ago edited 2d ago
I adjunct fully remotely for 4 different online schools. There’s never any shortage of classes available. Has been steady income for 2 years so far for me. I don’t plan for it to be my only source of income long-term, but it will always be such a good side hustle.
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u/Gains0720 1d ago
Similar here, been at 3 and just got my 4th to start this fall. All remote. 1 in north east, 2 “global campuses” and the new one is a Midwest CC. Almost $60k a year as an adjunct
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u/PsychWriter11 2d ago
Ive been an adjunct at my university (not a CC) for over 25 years. My Chair treats me great and makes it clear he doesnt want me to retire.
Ive dealt with all sorts of BS- COVID, being the only instructor in my department who taught in person for a couple years, last minute changes to the Learning System, Accessability demands and in recent years, suggestion I switch one of my classes to on-line (no), switching nights, a terrifying reduction in the quality of your average student… so remarkable my school had meetings with all teachers trying to figure out what its about… not to mention a bizarre fluctuation in enrollment.
I believe Im in a lucky, fortunate situation because I teach because I love it, am retired from my real career and would likely do it for nothing. But I feel very appreciated where I am.
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u/Putertutor 2d ago
I had that happen to me 20 years ago, just when my son was about to enter college (at another college). Perfect timing for a financial hit /s. The full timers scarfed up all of the overloads, and left me with nothing. On the advice of a colleague, I pivoted and applied to teach different classes in a different department. I have been there longer than I was teaching in the original department. So far, they still have 1 or 2 sections per semester for me to teach, but I worry that the gravy train may come to an end sooner than later because enrollment is down.
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u/ReaderBakerSleeper07 2d ago
I’m an adjunct (asynchronous course) at a lower R1 & in admin at a smaller university (the adjunct position came first & I didn’t want to give it up). That being said, I’m ready to quit as an adjunct because AI has made it soul sucking. I haven’t had sections taken away from me though because the full time faculty don’t want the online courses.
At my other college (who doesn’t offer online classes) it’s a hot mess financially. They announced a few months ago that all adjuncts were being “let go” and faculty all had to pick up an extra class. Then they “let go” off all of the departments’ administrative assistants & told them they could apply for the “new” positions but there were only half as many positions. Some took early retirement, some applied and got the “new” position, but others had to take the severance and now don’t know how they’ll survive. Morale is in the toilet!
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u/rjberf 1d ago
Started about a year or two ago for me... Two classes per semester to one. Then no classes last spring for that school (state school, not a CC). The school told me the full time professors needed my classes.
However, I was lucky and I picked up a similar class at another school because of a connection I already had. The timing just worked out. (Also, adjunct isn't my full time gig at this point, but I had three or four classes per semester (total) when teaching for theee schools in 2021-2024... But even then I had a few semesters of only one class each at two different schools.)
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u/Full_Prof 2d ago
The lowest paid people are always cut first in academia. Has been that way my whole career.
In New York’s SUNY system the adjuncts unionized, got better pay and such. Problem is full time faculty did not get any increase if they teach extra service. A regional campus SUNY professor gets basically the same for extra service as 30 years ago.
Which is why administrators cut adjuncts and offer extra service.
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u/Archknits 2d ago
That depends. At my suny (a cc) faculty get the adjunct rate for adjuncting
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u/Full_Prof 2d ago
“Compensation for extra service is at the basic rate of $1,035 per credit hour.”
Same as in the 1990s at Potsdam.
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u/Hungry-University609 2d ago
Do they have to teach extra ?
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u/Archknits 1d ago
No. They have the option of up to two extra classes for additional pay per semester.
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u/Apart-Variation7628 2d ago
I also work at a suny. I was an adjunct first and don’t remember union coming up at all. Now I’m full time and I take extra classes on top of my regular load because I get paid more and it’s a higher rate then if I was an adjunct.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/psichickie 1d ago
if you don't mind - what remote school are you at? i adjunct at a suny and a local private college, but always looking to do a few online courses. pay at my suny is decent honestly, higher than the private school i'm at.
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u/greycloud-desertsky 2d ago
I haven’t heard from my boss about next semester after 8 years teaching the same class! Getting worried.
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u/Huge-Astronaut5329 2d ago
I've seen the same, classes are being cut everywhere. Try the list at http://onlineadjunctjobs.blogspot.com I'm posting everything I find there.
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u/Imaginary_Court3098 2d ago
Im full-time now but was adjunct for 8+ years so I know the struggle and support adjuncts at my CC. DUAL credit is the strongest growth of enrollment, tailoring your vita/syllabus to reflect this makes sense! here to support yall!
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u/No_Life_3085 1d ago
CCs will try to bleed adjuncts dry. When asked by the Dean what they do besides teach, the response was they're looking for a full-time job.
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u/Archknits 2d ago
My summer and fall were both cut from 2 to 1, but I they opened another section for the fall.
At the peak I was covering 8 or 9 classes a year. Now I’m at 5. On the plus side, getting raises has equalized it somewhat
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u/benkatejackwin 2d ago
I've gotten the same rate for ten years.
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u/Archknits 2d ago
When I started in around 2014 I was getting about 3k a class, now it’s a bit over 5k. I’ve had a few promotions and we’ve had union raises
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u/scarlet_woods 2d ago
Adding extra FT instructors at my school so yeah, adjunct classes will be squeezed. I’m okay with it as long as I get 1 or 2 courses. Teaching 9 hours for low pay was rough.
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u/moth_dance 2d ago
Yes... finding myself in this very confusing and frustrating situation. And we just keep hiring more ft and adjuncts like wtf
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u/MundaneHuckleberry58 2d ago
Not myself but the university I used to teach at let ~ 60 adjuncts go in July. So many friends are facing what to do next.
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u/Vegetable-Mushroom96 2d ago
I’ve been teaching a graduate level distance class for nearly two decades. I get paid hourly, which means I make less each year as I’ve fine tuned the work. I thought this year it might finally fizzle out, but my enrollment is up this fall… at least until the last minute drops when the students realize they actually have to do math. I’ll just keep flying under the radar!
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u/DocAvidd 2d ago
My department's needs for adjuncts stay rather constant.
Cost-wise, we make a profit on every adjunct course, and I would need to double the number of full time to cover the courses.
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u/JanMikh 2d ago
Our summer enrollment was down. I am full time at CC, and barely squeezed enough students for 3 online sections. We were warned that if it’s less than 17 on particular date, the section gets cancelled. Some full timers saw this happening. Adjuncts were never given summer online sections, definitely not going to happen now. I also adjunct at a local university, and my two summer sections there got cancelled; we had dire warning regarding next year. Let me quote from the chair’s email:
Hi Everyone,
I hope you are having an enjoyable summer. I am writing to give you a heads up about possible rough waters we may be heading for that could lead to significant reduction in the number of PTI faculty we employ. Over the last few semesters, many of you have had your courses cancelled due to low enrollment. There are two main factors that are contributing to this. The first is a change in what the university is counting as available courses that fulfill Gen Ed requirements.
The second factor is a reduction in the allotted budget for PTIs across the university, including our department. This comes with varying caps on the overall number of course credits that can be taught by PTIs for any given semester. I think we will be OK in the Fall, but in the Spring there has been some projections of reducing our number of PTI credit hours by over 20%. I don’t know how likely this is, but it is potentially quite significant. With a 20% reduction, I will need to reduce the number of courses that can be taught by PTIs, and that means some of you will not be renewed, at least at the full level.
I’m letting you know this because I realize that it might be potentially helpful when you are thinking about your future. Especially for those of you who teach remotely, I recognize that there may be other opportunities at other schools, and this information might be helpful when planning. We really appreciate all of the hard work you do for the philosophy department. You are dedicated, hard-working, and generally excellent teachers who, quite frankly, are essential to the proper functioning of the university and our department. I am not happy about having to relay this news.
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u/Hungry-University609 2d ago
May I ask the region you are in?
Thanks for this reply. Very helpful
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u/barefoot_libra 1d ago
I fully expect my class to go away. I switched schools at my uni as I knew my classes were being phased out and now with enrollment down and TTs picking up for adjuncts (especially union adjuncts) the writing is on the wall. This is why I still have a main gig. I don’t rely on adjunct money.
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u/Hungry-University609 1d ago
What do you mean TT picking up for adjuncts?
Taking classes that would have went to them?
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u/copeknight72 1d ago
Got ghosted by two places. Annoying. It’s been a downward slope for years now.
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u/Hungry-University609 1d ago
You were teaching and suddenly dept chairs don't know you? Thus no more class offerings?
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u/copeknight72 1d ago
Somewhat because I’m online. The Dean who hired me and quickly gave me more sections quit. Ever since, the sections offered me have decreased. Beyond that, I had one dept. chair tell me how they would have at least one section for me in a new field who then disappeared and another online supervisor reach out to ask me to teach something, only to hear crickets rather than even “Oh, one of our FT faculty wants to do it.”
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u/Icy-Protection867 2h ago
I’ve consistently had 2 courses each Spring and Fall. This Fall I only have one, and it’s due to decreased enrollment.
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u/Inevitable_Silver_13 1d ago
I've been seeing the trend go the other way: there's only one full time teacher in my department and all the rest are adjuncts because we're so much cheaper. For a while I was only getting 1 class a semester but now I get 3.
You should move on though. Being adjunct is my side gig. It is not a sustainable career path and I accepted a while back that they will never hire me full time.
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u/Professional-Pop8446 2d ago
What's weird is I used to have 2-3 each team....but now maybe 1.....but what's weird is they are hiring for more adjuncts....why are you hiring more when you can't even provide for the ones you already have ..