Dept chair being unreasonable with adjunct?

[kaysixteen]

I do see that point, but speaking as someone who has adjuncted in four different types of depts (albeit only at three schools total), I am familiar with how this can be done, even without the adjunct's having multiple advanced degrees.  In addition to the multiple langs spoken example mentioned above, various points suggest themselves here:

1) the English prof teaching comp is probably doing this in an, ahem, English dept.   Only very big unis are likely to have separare rhetoric-style depts where this would be taught outside of the Engl dept
2) many scientists could teach basic college-level math classes
3) various schools have things like world civ and other sorts of interdisciplinary core course requirements, often at least relatively easily taught by professors from various depts
4) and I am a classicist.   Many classicists do a wide variety of things-- heck, a grad school prof I had labeled classics as the 'first area study'-- and many classics depts themselves have tenured members who are not, ahem, actually PhDs in classics, but rather might have a PhD in things like philosophy, history, art, linguistics, etc.  I am sure that there are other disciplines where similar broad-based hiring occurs

[Ruralguy]

Well, yes, there are various ways this can be accomplished, I acknowledged that (and listed some of the same examples---and by the way, your number 1 is not correct, though your western civ. type example is good example, and at least a few schools do that, maybe many). My point was that even though its possible, its not particularly common. In any case, one recent case I know of this did indeed become problematic due to varying quality over the subject areas. But that was a case of *positive performance* leading us to let them go into various other areas similar to some of your examples. But then when they started in the other areas, performance in other areas was poor at worst and fair at best even though quality in "home" remained excellent.

But putting this into conclusions that would serve you, I'd say , yes, you can probably try to go to other depts. at same college (as an adjunct) if the original dept. doesn't need you any longer. However, expect rejection if performance in initial dept. was seen to be poor for some reason.  Generally speaking, AFTDJ, but don't hold out hope if things didn't end well for you in a particular gig (aside from just being dropped due to financial issues or enrollment issues that had nothing to do with you).

[jerseyjay]

Obviously, if Dept. A wants to hire somebody who has taught in Dept. B, that's their right. And as has been said, few adjunct professors are actually "fired" instead of just not reappointed. That said, the chair of Dept. A might want to know if Dept. B did not reappoint somebody for a specific reason. If I remember correctly, the person in question had been accused of something concrete (harassment?) that probably would have disqualified them from teaching in another department. (I do not remember the details, and I do not remember whether these were just allegations or whether there had been some evidence.)

I teach in a small university. Nonetheless, there are several ways that somebody could teach in more than one department. For a while Western Civilization was required for all students, and it was run out of the history department, but used people with other humanities degrees, also. Somebody with a comparative lit degree could theoretically teach in the modern language department or the English department. As a full timer, I have taught classes in three different departments at different times.

My main point is that if the OP annoys the chair in one department at one school, this is not likely to make them unhirable as an adjunct elsewhere--maybe even in the same school. For that matter, in a few years, it is likely that there will be a new chair and the OP might even be able to get rehired in the same department.

[Caracal]

I do see that point, but speaking as someone who has adjuncted in four different types of depts (albeit only at three schools total), I am familiar with how this can be done, even without the adjunct's having multiple advanced degrees.  In addition to the multiple langs spoken example mentioned above, various points suggest themselves here:

1) the English prof teaching comp is probably doing this in an, ahem, English dept.   Only very big unis are likely to have separare rhetoric-style depts where this would be taught outside of the Engl dept
2) many scientists could teach basic college-level math classes
3) various schools have things like world civ and other sorts of interdisciplinary core course requirements, often at least relatively easily taught by professors from various depts
4) and I am a classicist.   Many classicists do a wide variety of things-- heck, a grad school prof I had labeled classics as the 'first area study'-- and many classics depts themselves have tenured members who are not, ahem, actually PhDs in classics, but rather might have a PhD in things like philosophy, history, art, linguistics, etc.  I am sure that there are other disciplines where similar broad-based hiring occurs

People in interdisciplinary fields are going to have more options, classics included. I know that as a historian, there aren't many other departments who would hire me. I teach historically minded gen ed classes, but the history department is in charge of staffing those. I teach all kinds of things that are sometimes cross listed in other departments, but I couldn't teach an intro course in Religious Studies or American Studies. I don't have the disciplinary training for that. Not all of the people in those departments could teach intro history courses, but I would bet some could-some of them might even have been trained as historians.

Really, the only think I can do is writing courses, something I do have some experience and training in, but even that really depends on the philosophy and organization of the writing program at a school. I'm only going to be considered qualified at a place that is "writing across the disciplines" focused and has people from lots of disciplines teaching writing.

[Caracal]

In my experience, most schools do not try to cycle through adjunct professors as quickly as possible. All things being equal, it is better for the school to have a stable cadre of dependable instructors. That said, some schools do not hesitate to not schedule a part-timer a second semester if they don't like the part-timer (for whatever reasons, legitimate and not).

Yes, that's been my experience. There really isn't much supervision of adjuncts and it isn't a desirable enough job to have much in the way of real hiring procedures. Usually the only that happens is that the chair has a short conversation with a potential adjunct. They might ask a few questions about how teaching philosophy and ideas, but if you've gotten to that point, you'll usually be hired if you seem like a qualified person more or less in full possession of their faculties. If an adjunct gets ok evaluations, the chair doesn't hear anything alarming about them, and there aren't many complaints, then they're likely to keep getting rehired as long as they have funding, and courses they need someone to teach.

People who live in Boston, New York etc. sometimes think that's the way it works everywhere, but in most places, there really are not many people with doctorates interested in picking up classes for low wages and you don't have a ready supply of ABDs around to pick up the slack. If the choice is between continuing to hire someone you know is competent and doesn't cause drama, and getting rid of them and hiring someone who could turn out to be a loon, that's a pretty easy decision.

[jerseyjay]

Having been hired as an adjunct at more than a dozen places over twenty years, the process usually is that I send the chair (or whoever hires adjuncts) a copy of my CV, they decide that I look like a possible fit for a section, they call me. Sometimes I get offered the job after a phone conversation; sometimes it leads to an actual meeting with the chair before being offered a job. After that, the chair might talk to me in the hall if we run into each other, but so long as no long as there are no complaints, I am usually offered another course for the coming semester.

Once or twice there was an actual interview, involving a committee. Sometimes the chair has contacted my references. But both of these are rare.

The closer the start date of the semester, the faster and looser the process is. I have been offered sections of courses based only on my CV and a quick conversation with the departmental secretary two days before the semester starts. Of course, this is also based on a CV with extensive experience.

In fact, the most important factor is teaching experience, not degree pedigree. At my current job, the chair was once so desperate for somebody to teach a section of an introductory course, they were happy to hire somebody with a PhD in a different field. (This person had extensive teaching experience and the field was sort of adjacent: think somebody with a PhD in Chinese literature teaching an introductory course in Chinese history.) This person ended up teaching part-time for several years.

On the other hand, the chair once hired somebody with only a master's and a semester's experience at a local CC to teach an introductory course. There were several student complaints and the chair simply did not renew this person for the next semester. This person still emails the secretary--four years later--every semester asking if there is a free course for the next semester.

At most places I have taught, if an adjunct makes it through the first semester with no complaints, they will usually be offered a second course.

[Ruralguy]

Yes, especially in the sciences, its very difficult to hire adjuncts. Even longer term VAPs are getting harder to fill.

But in fields here in which its easier to find adjuncts, a number of them are spouses of other faculty. Others are recent graduates of a program in which current Chair or Director of dept. or program in question knows someone, etc. and so forth. Most stay for as long as they care to so long as there aren't issues with teaching, enrollment, or lack of funding.
On occasion, some have been able to convert to VAPs (higher paying) , or even apply for and get a tenure track job (I know that's rarer than a unicorn at most schools).  We even have a formal process for converting status of adjuncts to a longer term NTT, but semi-permanent status (higher pay, better benefits if teaching full load). They can do that after equivalent of a few years at full load.  But an adjunct who does a bad job teaching or who is no longer needed by a dept. doesn't really have any rights. They just have to go, BUT even in those cases, we try to find other options. So, I think we do about as well by adjuncts as anyone could expect. I wish we could do even better (rights to sabbatical after a few years, etc.) , but administration thinks we are already doing too much for adjuncts/NTT positions.

[Mobius]

We can't find adjuncts unless we let them teach online. It makes course scheduling tricky when faculty departures leave holes in subfields. I'm not going to teach classes in one specific subfield because, frankly, I don't want to and can choose other courses to teach. We are having to sub out courses until our major requirements are revised.

[kaysixteen]

Granted, classics ain't a growth field, and I am living in eastern New England, where several PhD programs in Classics exist, etc., but I am wondering whether it really is true, taken as a whole nationwide, that there is a dearth of PhDs willing to adjunct nowadays?  What is the evidence that this is the case?  I average maybe one assignment every three years nowadays, and to do this, I have had  to adjunct in three separate disciplines....  of course, student grade complaints cost me jobs at two of the three unis I worked at...  ah welll...I still wonder about the shortage, however.

[Ruralguy]

Heck, we have an across the board dearth of people willing to take our *tenure track* positions. I get that this doesn't *prove* a national dearth in adjuncts, but we have a dearth in everything!

[Caracal]

Granted, classics ain't a growth field, and I am living in eastern New England, where several PhD programs in Classics exist, etc., but I am wondering whether it really is true, taken as a whole nationwide, that there is a dearth of PhDs willing to adjunct nowadays?  What is the evidence that this is the case?  I average maybe one assignment every three years nowadays, and to do this, I have had  to adjunct in three separate disciplines....  of course, student grade complaints cost me jobs at two of the three unis I worked at...  ah welll...I still wonder about the shortage, however.

Nationwide, probably not, but unlike the full time academic job market, the adjunct market is local. Who would move to take an adjuncting position? Where you live, there are several PHD programs in your discipline in a fairly small area, which means that there are ABDs looking to teach for both money and experience. People who finish their degrees and don't get full time jobs are also often going to be hanging around.

On the other hand, I live in an urban area with plenty of colleges, but there isn't a PHD granting institution in my discipline within a 100 miles. If you end up here looking for adjunct work, it's probably because you're a trailing partner and there just aren't enough of those to go around and you see lots of people with just a terminal masters adjuncting.

[Ruralguy]

I'm in a small college town that is lucky to have two colleges, another community college a short drive away, and a significant number of colleges and universities within about 1-2 hours away. Still, in many fields it would be impossible for a trailing spouse to find work in this town, and very likely not in the region just mentioned. Of course, if the spouse can teach comp or Spanish, then they can probably find work. 

[Mobius]

Granted, classics ain't a growth field, and I am living in eastern New England, where several PhD programs in Classics exist, etc., but I am wondering whether it really is true, taken as a whole nationwide, that there is a dearth of PhDs willing to adjunct nowadays?  What is the evidence that this is the case?  I average maybe one assignment every three years nowadays, and to do this, I have had  to adjunct in three separate disciplines....  of course, student grade complaints cost me jobs at two of the three unis I worked at...  ah welll...I still wonder about the shortage, however.

I can imagine there are just more people who have M.A.s and Ph.D.s in the humanities in a small geographic area. Same reason competition for academic jobs is fierce compared to rural Nebraska.

[Caracal]

I'm in a small college town that is lucky to have two colleges, another community college a short drive away, and a significant number of colleges and universities within about 1-2 hours away. Still, in many fields it would be impossible for a trailing spouse to find work in this town, and very likely not in the region just mentioned. Of course, if the spouse can teach comp or Spanish, then they can probably find work.

Yeah, I can't really assess how normal the situation where I live is. I'm in a pretty populated region, there are a number of schools around here, but no phd programs in my discipline and a number of bigger schools in the area make pretty extensive use of adjuncts. When I lived somewhere where the big school in the area had a phd program, it was a much tighter market since grad students there did a lot of the teaching at that school and snapped up adjunct positions at other schools.