Adjunct v.s. Full Time -- The Real Differences

It may be difficult if you're in academia to have missed the big Adjunct debate that has slowly been on the rise. Adjuncts make up an increasingly large portion of university faculty, yet despite teaching the same classes and having the same degrees and perhaps even having more on-the-job professional field experience in the case of some individuals (Ex: A writing instructor may actually work as a writer or in publishing), make far less than full-time faculty (per working hour). And may barely make more per actual-working-hour than those making minimum wage.

Don't believe me? Do a quick Google search for PhDs who qualify for EBT* and who are working in academia.

While pay may be at the forefront of this movement for adjuncts, other things are often overlooked. I was always aware of it to a certain extent as an adjunct, but after 6 long years in the trenches, I managed to secure a full time faculty position, and this has shed light on a shocking number of other inequalities that are worth mentioning.


The following list is based on my experience alone. Given the differences between universities, some adjuncts may have it better or worse. Different state laws may require different things. So, again, this is my experience teaching for 3 different types of institutions over 6 years and speaking to other adjuncts who teach elsewhere. I can only imagine what I'd discover with more time and access to more settings.

Things I have access to as a full-time professor that I lacked as an adjunct:

1.  A stationary office that I have access to whenever I want. This additionally allows me a place to store materials other than my home or car, to have actual confidential meetings with students, and to draw a clearer line between "home" and "work." ClearER because let's face it, as a teacher, you're likely taking things home to grade. Period. It also makes scheduling meetings with students easier as there is a central location we can always meet without taking space from others. This also allows for student drop ins when I'm not in official office hours, that have been extremely valuable for a number of my students, and which make me concerned about all the students who perhaps missed out on such occasions in my teaching past.
2. A mailbox that students have continuous access to. (This I did have at two places I taught, but did not have at the other.)
3.  Advanced time to prepare for my upcoming classes. As a full-timer, I get my course schedule nearly 2 months earlier than when I was an adjunct, and I get the whole thing. There is no coordinating between schools or waiting to hear back, and no "maybes." Changes can happen and classes can get dropped, but again, the additional time not only allows for future planning in all areas of my life but allows students who wish to have me again as a professor a chance and opportunity to do so.
4. First pick at class selection and class times. Since full timers get scheduled first, they have more control over when and what they teach. It isn't absolute of course. Student schedules and needs of the department must be met, but the Department Head is no longer picking through leftovers for something that roughly resembles my provided availability.
   
   
5. Job security. If a class gets dropped, due to my contract, I'll be given another one. And unless in the unlikely event they have NOTHING for me to do (no additional committee work, no summer or Jan term classes for me to replace it with), only then should I see a change in pay. This is extremely unlikely as a full time professor, but a semesterly concern as an adjunct whose contract only covers one semester at a time, with a clause stating they can drop you before the semester starts for various reasons. While it doesn't happen often, it can. In short, I know with a lot more certainty that I'll have a job next semester.
   
   
6. Steady pay. No gaps in the calendar year where I will have to go without income or do freelance work or pick up another job. Plus, I know how much I will get paid three months from now as well as six months from now. I can actually make financial decisions based on future income. You know that time period when you start a new job, and you have to wait for the pay cycle to come around to get your first pay check? Imagine having to do that every 4 months. There were times where I would be teaching nearly a month in a classroom before I'd get my first pay check for the semester. Not to mention, depending on when contracts were signed, my first pay check expectancy was not the same semester to semester. At the same institution, the first pay check could come 2 weeks into the job, 3 weeks into the job, or 4 weeks into the job depending on where we were in the calendar and when contracts were signed by people higher up. At 2 of the 3, I had to call HR on my own (no one suggested I do so) to obtain the pay date information (and it was not posted online). One year, 2 weeks before the school year, I was notified by one institution that our expected pay date had been changed to 2 weeks later than initially expected. One of my colleagues currently had a hole in the side of her house due to some frozen pipes (this was Jan/Feb) and could not pay to have it repaired until receiving the pay check from this institution. So, in comparison, I had it pretty good I guess. I only had a few late bills.
7. No necessary second job or third or fourth job. Even while teaching 4-5 classes, I  usually had to secure and maintain an additional job to take care of small 1-2 or even 3-4 month pay gaps between semesters. If not maintaining one, then near the end of the semester, when I'd also be preparing students for finals and grading, grading, grading, I'd also be applying for additional jobs and trying to figure out how to make the gap. And for those who think I could simply apply for unemployment during those gaps, think again. Many adjuncts do not qualify based on how they are defined by their institution. I tried applying for unemployment one summer when I found work scarce. At the time, I was working between two institutions. One approved me, the other did not. So with 1 job, I gain time, focus, lack of stress. This also means that I have more time for optional professional development directly related to my field.
8. Regular meetings with other faculty in my department and staff. This leads to a better understanding of what is going on in the department and the school and I can actually make recommendations to students about other classes and faculty. This information may not seem necessary until you realize what you've been missing out on.
9. An increased understanding of the university's goals, beliefs, and layout. Yes, layout. Where is this building? When does this close? Which resource or office does a student or do I need to go to get X accomplished.
10. A less agonizing time interacting with student loan companies. Don't believe me? You try applying for IBR or the Public Forgiveness program when you have multiple pay stubs and do not earn an average monthly salary. I had to always check the box that my salary would be different from my last tax year, and despite adjuncting being not that odd or the fact that I had to apply this way for 6 years, the companies can never figure out how to calculate my salary. The most recent example, despite applying to recertify my IBR at the end of October, when I could provide my gross income for pretty much the whole year with only 2 months remaining and provide a clear, detailed list of how and when I was paid by each place and when each payment began and stopped, my loan company still determined I made (would make?) nearly twice my income and set my monthly payment accordingly. I am still (in December) in the process of re-applying to fix this. Filling out any kind of loan or financial or employment paperwork can be a pain and never truly accurate. We almost didn't qualify for a needed loan to buy our home because the company determined I made too much money (also way more than I actually made). I think the error is they assume, no matter what evidence I provide otherwise, that I get paid by all institutions each month for 12 months the same amount. I have to work to get them to do the basic math and reading that proves otherwise.  Let's not even get started about filing taxes, which is actually probably the easiest thing to do, just more time consuming due to all the W2's. 
11. Health Insurance and benefits. Access to a retirement plan that I receive help with from my employer. Sure, I could go on the open market. I, being married, got health insurance through my husband, but now we have options. And guess what? Mine was actually better than his. This isn't to mention the additional optional benefits like life insurance and access to legal advice.
12. Paid leave. Not everyone may get this, but absolutely no adjuncts do. When I had my first child, I delivered over Spring Break, and was back in the grading and teaching saddle a week later. With my second child, not only will I get 6 weeks paid leave and access to FMLA, but since I know my schedule and classes so far in advance, I can actively work with the department and human resources to arrange for if/when I'll take my leave. And I'm encouraged to do so.
    
    
13. An albeit small but individual budget to use to buy things for students or my classes if necessary.
14. Free and easy access to office materials. Staples, staplers, pens, paper, and the list goes on. Technically, you can use this as an adjunct as well, as long as someone is kind enough to show you where to access them and no one locks the supply room before you get there. And depending on the school, you may or may not have rights to use copiers. At one school I taught at, you had to use the copy center, not the copy machines, as an adjunct. Which meant any needed printed materials had to be arranged at least 48 hours in advance and delivered and picked up from the center. So much for impromptu readings or assignments. Granted, Blackboard makes this easier,  but you would be surprised in this digital age how many students still want hard copies.
15. Meeting the Dean. This perhaps goes up with other faculty and staff meetings, but building a small professional relationship with the Dean is valuable in more abstract ways. Not to mention, my boss's boss actually knows who I am. I'm sure there is some professional benefit to that, and I feel comfortable enough to contact him if I do have a question or a need or something that would need his approval. Really, being recognized by an increased number of people on campus PERIOD, is beneficial. I get asked far less frequently if I'm a student or visitor.
16. Attending on campus events more easily and frequently. Again, something I could do as an adjunct, but was more difficult due to differing school schedules and time spent, again, on other jobs etc.
17. A consistent semester schedule. When you're used to keeping track of multiple semester start and end dates, drop dates, breaks, university closures, and bad weather policies, the benefit of this may not seem immediately recognizable. But starting and ending consistently is far less stressful and easier to keep track of than having one class start and end up to two weeks earlier or later than your others. Or, if you're working at more than two institutions, possibly having as many as 3 different start and end, midterm, drop, and final dates.
18. A mentor. Only one institution offered me a mentor as a starting adjunct, and I found her help invaluable. Having more teaching experience now, I still find having a dedicated mentor as a relief.
19. A consistent understanding of policies. What one university considers a C another may consider a C-. One may use plus and minus, another may not. The procedure for dropping and adding may differ. Prerequisites, course numbers, and what counts, all differ. What is English 101 here is 151 there. This one requires  X number of pages and a shared final assignment, but in this otherwise identical class, this one requires Y. And since there is no guarantee you'll be teaching the same places next semester, the chance to truly memorize or become comfortable with any one policy is lessened. Sure you can always look it up. Because spending more time keeping track of things like this that you could be spending grading or prepping is what you need at midterms.(Sarcasm)
20. Controlled number of Preps. I'm not supposed to have more than 3 preps in my current position, and 2 is often aimed for. As an adjunct, no such requirement or concern is taken into consideration nor can it be. And even if I was teaching nearly the exact same class at two or three different places, I still needed to be aware of the differing requirements, start dates, and sometimes classroom resources, required varying degrees of different preps and maintain a unique syllabus (and Blackbaord course) for each with different dates. Besides downloading tests, you can't copy BB posts or announcements between universities either. Time, time, time. As any instructor can tell you, sometimes having the same class at the same university that is on different days (a M/W v.s. a T/Th v.s. MWF) can be a pain in terms of scheduling, how holidays interfere, and maintaining separate syllabi and Blackboard courses. So you can only imagine doing that with so many other differences to keep track of. I did it. I streamlined as much as humanly possible. So the biggest thing gained here, besides time, is peace of mind.
21. Single sign on and email and streamlined technology. If you feel like going insane, you could forward all university emails to one single email. Otherwise, you need to keep track of all your various sign-ons, passwords, and password expirations. Whether or not you're using WebXpress or WebAdvisor and what version of Blackboard (or is it Moodle?) and Microsoft Office and computer brand this university is using compared to that. There is a benefit to this -- you become more tech savvy by necessity.
22. Then of course, the obvious one: increased pay. While I am doing some more work meeting wise and depending on the position you get, you may be doing more work committee or research wise,  and there will be (should be?) advising, the fact remains that you're doing the same job dispersed differently. (I personally as a lecturer am still teaching 5 classes, have minimal advising duties, and no research or committee commitments. But usually if research and committee is required, class load is reduced. Most (if not every) institution has written somewhere what committee and/or research hours are equivalent to teaching hours for a reason, and these are often seen as trade-able in contracts. You teach less classes, you do more of X. Thsi may differ institution to institution but it exists.)  So, same job, roughly the same amount of time spent doing different things (I'd rather go to a department meeting for 3 hours a month than spend that time juggling different blackboard courses), but a salary that actually represents the 35-60 hours (depending on the time in the semester and type of class you're teaching) a week that you're putting in. And I know this because as an adjunct one year I decided to track the hours I spent at work, grading, in the class room, meeting students, answering emails, attending staff meetings relevant to me that I was allowed to attend (and often wasn't required to attend for obvious pay reasons, but I'm an over achiever like that), etc. And that's the number I got. 35 hours near the start of a writing intensive course semester, and 60 by the end. Which averaged to slightly over $9 an hour.   Or to put it another way, as a full-timer teaching 10 classes a year with 20 -30 hours a year more (rough estimate) dedicated to required meetings or ceremonies (and getting to weigh in on important department or university decisions), I will make $20,000 more than if I taught 10 classes as an adjunct at the best paying institution that I worked for as an adjunct.
    
    
23. I suppose there is one (or two?) other thing(s) I can add: Responsibility and Appreciation. As a full time professor I feel more responsibility and more credit for representing and being a part of the university, for helping students and colleagues, and for meeting department and university set goals. Personally, I always felt a sense of loyalty to each place I was employed, but now I feel that loyalty being returned, and with that, an increased responsibility to respond to it and act accordingly. This again has more to do with abstract feelings than concrete actions (though there are additional concrete expectations), but it is worth pointing out. Perhaps some of that $20,000 pay increase takes into account the types of decisions and influence and meeting requirements I have as a permanent department member. 
    
    Perhaps? Let's optimistically say yes, they considered that when determining adjunct pay. If we could determine if this was true and to what extent we could start discussing how much of the $20K increase is attributed to that. As it is my first year and a tenure-less position without a promotional track; there are a number of positions at my institution and elsewhere that make a notable amount more than I.

In short, as an adjunct I was doing the same workload*, with less pay, less resources, less face time with students and colleagues, less recognition, perhaps also a noteworthy but not greatly decreased amount of responsibility, and a more stress induced home life. 

* Same workload: Notable difference explained in #22. As a lecturer, my workload -- save the meetings and advising -- is most equivalent (as there are different levels of responsibility) to that of an adjunct teaching equal classes given that I do not have scholarly or other commitments (I will begin advising soon). I cannot stress enough that that increased responsibility does deserve to be recognized both abstractly and in salary. I simply question the dollars to hours to experience math equation when it comes to determining adjunct pay.

These are just the things that I could think of in one sitting. I can't imagine the benefits I have overlooked, or since I've only been full-time for one semester, yet to encounter.

The main difference is as a full-timer all my work is done "under one roof" so to speak, which yes, gives me  access to legal benefits and rights which make all the above differences possible. And okay, I'll say it outright: just because an institution isn't legally compelled (required?) to give an equivalent fraction of pay and resources for an equivalent fraction of work, doesn't mean they shouldn't.

However, what happens instead is they cap the number of credits adjuncts can take a year at each institution and make sure we're not required to attend meetings -- to make sure we're "not getting taken advantage of." A system that restricts what we are capable of earning and keeps us out of the institutional loop of information. Here is the flaw: the response to low pay is to make sure they don't take too much advantage of that low pay, instead of just increasing it and the responsibility that comes with it. Or even at the very least, providing resources that would help us do the job more effectively or efficiently. 

Having said all that, I was fortunate enough as an adjunct to have WONDERFUL Department Heads, who did their best to make me feel included, work with my schedule, and ensure I had the minimum resources I needed. These people were amazing individuals, some of which who had adjuncted themselves in the past and knew the struggle we faced. I cannot express how fortunate I was to work with and under such people. Bosses who understood when I was pregnant and offered me online sections, who made sure adjuncts were included on department mailing lists, and a few who provided information and means to resources that weren't provided in typical adjunct orientations, and who were angered for us when our starting pay date was moved, and who were genuinely happy for me when I left them for a full time position. However, even their reach was limited on what they could offer working within the confines of adjuncts rules and policies and physical space and some of them were laden with guilt for offering, recommending, or requiring workshops that increased or effectiveness and value but for which we could not be properly compensated. And my heart goes out to any adjunct who doesn't have the benefit of working with such individuals.