Adjunct Professor Survival Guide
Being an Adjunct Professor can be incredibly rewarding and flexible work. If you are at an institution that pays a livable wage and benefits, an adjunct position allows you the time to pursue your academic or creative work outside of teaching. It can also be a challenging career path, since there are built-in uncertainties and problems within the structure of many colleges and universities. As a long-term adjunct, I have compiled some tips that I am sharing below.
Have other income streams. Passive income streams would be best because you will be working extremely hard and giving so much of yourself to your students. Factoring in your time with students, prep work, grading, commuting, contributing to your academic or creative field, and of course maintaining your health and relationships, you will eventually reach a limit as to how much you can do.
Accept help. Lean on family members and friends when you need to or when you can. Take a friend up on their offer to give you a ride home so you don’t have to take the train. Give generously to others in return, so you are part of a community of mutual generosity.
Have a regular sleep schedule. You need to sleep well in order to have energy to pursue your teaching and your creative or academic work. Teaching requires a great deal of energy, regardless of the age of your students. Rest and sleep when you can!
Streamline grading as much as possible. Automate your grade book at the beginning of the semester in your LMS or on your computer. It will make a big difference.
Structure your time outside of teaching. You’ll have pressure to publish or exhibit your creative work. It will only happen if you set aside time for it and work with purpose. Schedule this kind of work and make sure it gets done.
Treats. Bring them to work, have them at home waiting for you. You need to treat yourself well! For example, I find that if I’m excited about the fresh fruit that is waiting for me in the fridge, it’s easier to get out of bed on those very early mornings :) Pack food and snacks. I highly recommend this freezable lunch bag — it helps keep my food cold during my commute, until I can get to a refrigerator. Sometimes I order takeout for lunch, but I prefer to bring my own food because I can make simple, healthy and satisfying meals at home.
Ask for a space to keep your belongings. You can ask for a drawer, a cabinet or a closet. This will be much easier than lugging your paints, paper, supplies, books, water, and snacks.
If you are storing any snacks at school, make sure they are
1). Sealed.
2). Inside of an airtight container
3). Maybe a bit excessive, but good practice—put airtight container inside of large freezer bag. Live by the motto of ‘Nothing in, nothing out’ when it comes to storing food at school. The last thing you need is to be the part-timer who is there only once a week and does not know their snack drawer is causing bug or rodent problems while they are away.
Drink plenty of water. This will help with your energy levels, your voice and your stamina.
Go to events when you can. Be honest when you can’t. Make the effort to attend any department meetings or events you are invited to. It is good to be around and talk to colleagues. But don’t be afraid to say when you can’t be there. There is only so much you can do in a week, and you are already juggling a lot. Your full-time and tenured colleagues were once adjuncts, and they understand how demanding it is.
Volunteer. If you are making enough income where you have a few hours a month to space, consider helping your department supervisor or chairperson with schedules, exhibitions, open houses, and other events when you can. A little bit goes a long way! If your school allows for adjuncts to participate in shared governance, consider running for election and serving your school community. It will help you feel more connected to your colleagues and will increase your visibility on campus.
Stay organized. You are keeping track of a lot. Try using my Course Schedule template to keep track of due dates, assignments and topics. Feel free to copy and paste the schedule into a new Google Docs page and make your edits. Also consider using a digital calendar so you can access your datebook on the go. I use iCal.
Get to know your students. You will likely feel more connected to your students than to your fellow professors, because you will spend most of your time on campus with students. Ask them about their interests, their studies, and what they like to do outside of school. The better you know your students, the more perspective you have on remembering why you are doing this, which helps a lot when things get tough (which they will).
Accept that it’s not an ideal scenario. You are not making as much money as you probably should, considering your extensive training in your field and the investments you have made in your education. You are working harder than you would be if you were a full-time professor, and you do not have job security. Do not waste energy fighting that reality. That is the situation you are in, and you do not have to teach as an adjunct. You can do something else with your skillset (like private tutoring, for example). For most people, being an adjunct is not viable as a long-term career option. Accept that, and …
Prepare. Spend your free time preparing for the following scenarios:
A full time position opens up. What do you need? Who are your three references? What is your teaching philosophy? Diversity statement? Is your CV up to date? Is there enough professional activity on it? If not, what more can you do? Do you have a cover letter ready? Are you telling people around you that you are looking for a full-time teaching job?
The worst case scenario: your class does not run. If you lose a class, what will you do? If you lose all of your classes, what happens next? You need a plan for everything and you need to make purposeful decisions with your health and wellness in mind. That might mean having another, more reliable income stream, possibly outside of academia or with another age group. Think creatively and don’t rule anything out.
Status quo scenario. What happens if nothing changes? Are you prepared for that? What will you do? Do you want to keep doing this if there’s no full-time position for you? How and why?
Consider making an ‘end plan.’ For example, if you do not get a full time job within x years, maybe you will consider doing something else or continuing to adjunct alongside another job.
Hopefully you find your adjunct position rewarding and exciting. With these tips, you will be able to manage your role more effectively while looking after yourself and your creative or academic work.