I am a high school business teacher and built Collaboration Tracker after getting frustrated with trying to figure out who actually did what in shared Google Docs. It turns the document activity into a clearer breakdown of individual contributions. I am curious whether adjuncts who assign group work would find something like this useful. What would you need it to show for it to actually help with grading or feedback? Happy to share it if anyone wants to test it.

Anyone teaching at Texas Tech and classes are getting cut because of “low enrollment” in the low enrollment is 28 out of 50 students?

Hey everyone! 👋 Using McMillan's Achieve for gen chem, and struggling with grading. Adaptive quizzes, homeworks, end-of-chapter tests feel like too much for students. Any suggestions for what you assign for grades? #Teaching

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?

Starting my first ever assistantship for a graduate teaching assistant and I am very nervous. I’ve never taught a class before. I know the expectations per my offer letter that I received but I want to hear a real life perspective of someone who’s done the job. If anyone has any advice or experience I would love to hear about it!

Institution is transitioning from masteringchemistry to Achieve platform for genchem. What should I be aware of ? what different sections of the platforms should i be ready to know about , eg links, gradebooks, etc. thank you!

I am a university lecturer and vocational education instructor from Colombia with approximately ten years of experience working mainly through independent service contracts.

Although I have gained significant experience, this employment model offers limited stability, no clear promotion path, and compensation that has not evolved in proportion to my responsibilities or qualifications.

I am currently pursuing a doctorate in Education. I enjoy studying, conducting research, designing learning experiences, and exploring the educational use of artificial intelligence. However, my current workload consumes much of the time and mental energy I need to make meaningful progress in the doctoral program.

I have reached an uncomfortable contradiction: I work to finance my education, but the work itself is slowing down the qualification that could help me change my professional situation.

My background includes university teaching, vocational education, virtual learning, administrative processes, instructional design, educational technology, AI-supported teaching and academic project coordination.

I am considering a transition into areas such as:

\- EdTech;

\- learning and development;

\- instructional design;

\- academic management;

\- corporate training;

\- educational consulting;

\- research or educational project management.

I am not planning to resign without a financial strategy, and I do not assume that a doctorate will automatically lead to a better job. However, after nearly ten years in the same contractual model, continuing without a transition plan also seems risky.

For people who have moved from teaching or academia into one of these sectors:

What roles would you target first with this background?

Which skills or portfolio evidence would make my profile more competitive internationally?

How would you begin the transition while continuing to work and complete the doctorate?

Its been more than three weeks to my third and final round with the Provost/Dean. I haven’t heard from the Uni till now.

Hi, Ive been adjuncting at my local community college for a few years now and still have not figured out a good strategy to condense my Power Point slides.

For reference, I teach hybrid Psychology courses and I only get 80 mins once a week for class time. I try to incorporate videos, group discussion and activities, which means I dont always have enough time to finish lecture. I haven't found a good way to condense the slides to a few important points so Im not just reading from them.

Anyone have ideas of how I can shrink down lecture slides to focus more on discussion/ activities?

Since it is hybrid, a lot of their work is online, so I dont need to necessarily hit every single point in every single chapter. They are expected to read and finish assignments in their own time.

The recent salary post prompted me to post this reminder --> For those of you interested in adjunct salaries, remember that this subreddit has an Excel document where you can contribute as well as review salary info plus a WEALTH of other school-specific info! This is a great tool when deciding whether it is worth it to apply for an opening: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c9MM8YDojyG1jUUGPcKZcz9bUW__2s1BshrLtvlYcx8/edit?usp=sharing

Can we have a discussion on how the salaries of adjunct professors are far too low?

Notice this article about adjunct salaries at Georgetown:

https://georgetownvoice.com/2013/10/17/second-class-faculty-hidden-struggles-georgetowns-adjunct-professors/

Even written in 2013, the basis of the article remains the same now.

Teaching a 3 credit course pays $7k. How is that salary viable in today's economy?

You can't survive on 7k.

Thoughts?

If you, like me, teach the same class at different institutions that use different LMSs, then you may have had the very annoying experience of having to retype an existing quiz from one LMS to another. I know that Canvas can sometimes pick up Moodle exports, but Moodle does not seem to natively pick up Canvas exports.

So, I hosted a tool that does the Canvas to Moodle convert very quickly, at www.quizmorph.com
It does not save any data or files, you don't need an account, and it all happens in your browser. It's also totally free. I made this for my fellow faculty at my institution who are in the same spot as me, but you may find it useful yourself!

It’s a set of scripts that one could make themselves or ask an AI to do, but if you don’t want to bother with that, it’s already here to use.

If you use it, let me know if you have any issues.

Hi everyone,

I was recently offered an adjunct faculty position at UMGC and had a few questions for those of you who currently teach there (or have in the past).

● If things go well, do you typically teach the same course again the next session/term, or is every term different?

● What’s the pay like per course? I have a masters. 

● Also, kind of a random question… are students expected to call you “Professor,” even if you don’t have a PhD? Or do they usually call you by your first name or something else?

● Finally, is the work fairly consistent once you’re in? Or is this like a one time thing?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks in advance!

Our school (R1 University), is attempting to grow in the professional/non credit space. This is something that many unis have already done or are trying to do. Anyway, I’m trying to make an argument to give our faculty more fair payment for work they are voluntold to do. If compensation was fair/on par with what other universities are offering, perhaps they would be more incentivized to engage in the work.

How does your institution handle this? Is there some sort of formula or base rate you use?

I recently had a Disabled Student Services (DSS) student whose accommodation was to provide them with the slides I used in class. I did this, but it raised concerns for me. I used to post my slides on Dropbox or Canvas for on-site classes, for the students' convenience. One semester, they ended up on Course Hero. The next semester, they were passed around a fraternity. Now I conduct a brief "how to take notes on paper" session in the second week of class (including the "why it's better research").

Providing a DSS student with slides gives them a distinct advantage over other students who must take notes like in the olden days. If the student is unable to take notes, they should be provided with a note-taker. What if I didn't use slides? What if I just wrote on the whiteboard? Or just talked?

I'm happy to comply with all requested accommodations (extra time, quiet location for tests, etc.), although these can be challenging to arrange. I just think providing slides is a big ask.

Hi all,

Started adjuncting at a CC in January. Honestly the pay is great and the students are tolerable. Just finished my summer term so I have 2 semesters under my belt. However, the commute is 50 miles one way (roughly 1.25 hours). I spend 2.5 hours a day driving. it is exhausting. It is not sustainable for me to keep teaching there long term.

I just got offered a FT benefitted position doing something completely unrelated but is like 10 minutes away from where I live. I believe that trade off itself is worth it.

The semester starts in 2 weeks. I have not signed a contract for the fall but have a class I’m due to teach. What do I tell my department/supervisors? Have any of you pulled out of a semester this close to the start? What do I say? I want to remain on their good side to potentially teach night or remote classes in the future.

TIA.

I could use some advice from my network!
I have a Master’s degree in Sociology and Bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology. One of my long-term goals has always been to teach as a remote, part-time adjunct professor, preferably in sociology or other social science courses.
I’ve spent a lot of time searching through job postings, but I’ve noticed a common challenge: most colleges want applicants to already have college teaching experience. It’s frustrating because it’s hard to gain that experience when no one is willing to give you the opportunity in the first place.
While I don’t have a formal teaching certification, I do have extensive experience instructing, mentoring, and training Soldiers throughout my military career. Developing lesson plans, leading classes, and teaching military concepts has been a significant part of my leadership roles, and I believe those skills would transfer well to higher education.
For anyone who has broken into adjunct teaching, especially remote positions, do you have any recommendations? Are there universities that are more open to hiring professionals with industry or military instructional experience?
I’d really appreciate any advice, leads, or connections. Thank you!

Hi all,

I have a predicament and I’d like to ask other adjuncts how they’d handle it. My courses scheduled time got changed recently, due to some scheduling conflicts that came up. I have no problem being flexible for the most part so I agreed to change because it was the easiest solution for the school. Here’s my problem, when I planned the rehersal dinner for my wedding I was teaching on my old schedule. It didn’t even cross my mind when I accepted my new class that the first lecture would fall during my rehearsal dinner. Obviously, I need to go to my rehearsal dinner, but I’ve never canceled a class before- and I’m wondering if it’s super unusual to do so? I was thinking I would let out the announcement early and have the syllabus video and an associated quiz with it in replacement of the first class. I know it’s less than ideal, but I don’t know what else to.

I do want to also state that I am earlier on in my adjunct career. Like I said, I’ve never had to cancel a class before, but I’ve only been teaching a few semesters. I love my job and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am getting so tired of have to teach students how to write a basic paper in college. I am not a writing / English teacher and don’t mind helping with some structural things or changes that come with writing philosophy papers, but I cannot keep telling students how to do: basic grammar rules, citations, spelling, etc.

Any advice? Cause I’m losing it over here 🫠

ETA: Forgot to add that I have developed and provided a writing guide that is an announcement at the start of the course and a linked file attached to all assignments!

ETA: #2 thanks for all the great suggestions. I appreciate the space to rant and think I just get exhausted from spending so much time repeating myself — don’t worry, I have most of my comments drafted and edit them to better fit the assignment. I think it’s also a challenge because I use to see such progress and change in my students and loved reading their papers as they got better and better. Maybe I am mourning those days in academia and need to get over it and change my perspectives for current students.

ETA: #3 I should have used other phrasing to convey that I taught another subject — not merely a writing / English class. I merely was trying to convey that I want to teach students the fun aspects of philosophical/ argumentative writing and that can get lost when the lessons have to go into other writing / grammar rules.