CCFA
wants to highlight national issues and trends that affect faculty at two-year
colleges across the country. Thus, each month I will list two or more issues
and ask you to respond to those issues by contacting me. (See
the contact information below.) At the end of each month, I will post
a report here in which I will review the comments, ideas, and suggestions that
each respondent sends me.
UPDATE!
I received several insightful responses to the two Backtalk issues
posted in April. Review both of the issues, and then take a look at the responses
they generated.
Issue 1
A continuing and, for many, worrisome, trend is the reliance of community colleges on part-time instruction. Administrations tend to approve of adjunct faculty because they are less costly. Faculty, on the other hand, often worry that part-time faculty are being abused through institutions offering them low pay, no benefits, and no long-term job security. At the same time, some faculty worry that the quality of instruction may not be as high with part-time faculty as it is with full-time faculty. How do you weigh in on this issue?Issue 2
Community colleges traditionally rely on funding both from their local communities and from the state. Funding formulas and plans vary from state to state. However, an idea that is beginning to emerge in state legislatures across the country is the concept of basing community college funding on schools' student retention rates. What is your response to this funding idea?
Issue1: The Use of Part-Time Instruction
One respondent began his commentary by relating that, like many of us, he worked
as an adjunct for several years before becoming a full-time faculty member. As
he pointed out, the work of an adjunct is hard and brings with it no benefits.
That situation caused him to work another full-time job. As he so clearly worded
it: "I never thought that by getting a Masters degree I was only going to
get part-time work with it ." He did acknowledge that use of part-timers
can be a way for an institution to "try someone 
out."
Another respondent, who teaches in a rural area, marveled at how nice it would be to have an abundance of part-time instructors! At her institution, there is a defined difference between part-time teachers and adjunct teachers. Part-timers get some benefits and are hired on a yearly basis. Adjuncts are hired at her institution on a term-to-term basis and receive few benefits. Finally, she indicated that her school's administration has cooperated when the Faculty Senate has seen a need for a full-time teachers in various areas, rather than filling a necessary position with several part-timers.
Another respondent saw a link between the current academic attitudes toward part-time instructors and the attitudes toward part-time employees in the corporate world. Part-time employees are often favored in business because they are paid no benefits and tend to receive lower wages. Indeed, many institutions attempt to emulate corporate practices. He also pointed out that part-timers often cannot be excellent teachers, simply because they generally can't attend faculty meetings or participate in in-service training; and they are not able to be as available to students as full-time teachers are. Further, he points out that administrators err when they assume that anyone with a Master's degree can actually teach the subject area.
The problems associated with part-time instruction will be with us for a long time. Various suggestions for solving them are put forward in the spring issue of Planning for Higher Education. To read the commentary, go to the journal's website: http://www.scup.org/phe.htm.
Issue 2: The Concept of Retention-Based Funding
As one respondent pointed out, the average age of community college students is
higher than the age of university students. Thus, at a community college, retention
problems are often not the result of the faculty or any part of the school; rather,
they are the result of adult students balancing work, family, job, and school.
This respondent had an interesting slant: "Basing funding on retention would
assume that the college can influence the many factors which affect adults outside
of school, which means additional funding would be needed for more personal type
counseling ." Another responded that his institution receives little state
funding, but sees no logic in tying funding to retention because so many community
college students attend to receive a certificate or to take a few courses and
transfer to a four-year institution.
Please send your ideas and suggestions to testewar@actx.edu. If you prefer to respond by mail, I can be reached at:
Terry Stewart, Director
CCFA
P.O. Box 447
Amarillo, Texas 79109
Or you can call me at (806) 371-5181.
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