Dept chair being unreasonable with adjunct?

[hester]

Hello,

  Taught a class as a last minute hire. Dept chair gave me vibe they didn't want to hire me and ran ads for my replacement throughout term.
Term ends a few students don't like grades and appeal.
I was essentially fired (been replaced) yet I'm being expected to go through appeal process.

In your opinion, at what point does contractual obligation end.

I'm not sure if I'll even have a college email much longer.

Thanks for feedback.

[downer]

Once you get your last pay check, you don't need to check your email again.
There is no obligation on your part to communicate any further. It's the chair's problem.

[Ruralguy]

If your faculty handbook states that you should be available for such matters to be settlled, then technically you should be. But in reality, they cant fire you twice and already are trash for a recommendation. But, IMHO,
if they need your help with anything (probably not if everything is on LMS), then just give them what they need.
Beyond that, any real work should and will be done by the current faculty. So be cooperative, but do nothing else.

[Wahoo Redux]

Ef'em.

Start looking for an employer that appreciates you. 

I just finished what is (probably) my last semester of teaching because of budget cuts.  I am no longer even checking email.

Best of luck out there.

[research_prof]

What does your offer letter (or any other communication that you received from the university) say? For example, when I resigned, I received an email about 10 days before the semester ends (I had resigned at the beginning of the semester with an effective date before the next semester begins) from admins with a letter changing my resignation date to an earlier date that was convenient for the university. So, right after this date, I switched my affiliation on LinkedIn and my website to my new university.

Universities do what works for them the best (backdating resignation dates, etc.). Do what's best for you. After the official end date of your appointment, you are under no obligation to do anything for this university (it is pure volunteering work).

[Ruralguy]

The OP is an adjunct, the resignation dates are unlikely to be very significant, save for maybe computer and library access (although with modern availability of services, this probably doesnt matter as much as even 10 years ago).

Anyway, as i suggested before, very limited cooperation on getting the grade info if they even need it is really all you should do.

By the way, most offer letters, especially for adjuncts, say nothing. Details are in faculty handbooks, college by laws, course catalogs, etc.. i know its a weird quirk of academia to expect everyone to read thos crud, but thats the way it is.

In any case if you choose to f off, they cant fire you twice.

[hester]

Thanks for the feedback. The replies are what I expected. It makes one wonder the role of an adjunct has on campus. We really shouldn't be communicating with students if we are no longer teaching or in adjunct limbo ( still have an email but no courses).
Requests about grades and LOR's should be limited.

Maybe explain to students you are no longer teaching and not sure if administration wants me in contact with students.

I don't see this as ignoring responsibilities. It's more of a CYA in the event admin does in fact tell you stop communicating.

I heard of an adjunct/ advisor in limbo. This person was still offering guidance to students about course flows / required courses.

They never got around to officially firing said person. A dean emailed adjunct formally demanding they stop communicating and then the email account was finally shut off.

This person felt like a creepy fool. Adjunct thought they were being of service. " I serve the students not the institution".

That's a nice and altruistic way of looking at things until you get threatened with a cease and desist notice.

I guess I'm jaded from seeing these things.

It's apparent adjuncts work for school and should not be heavily engaged with students or the campus.

I've seen adjuncts do committee work trying to ingratiate themselves into fabric of school. They end up with no courses but still obligated to be on campus a few hours each week for events. One adjunct in this situation told me the dept chair asked why they were on campus in front of a bunch of faculty. It was beyond embarrassing. This adjunct tried to politely explain that were helping with career services/ internships. DC in the most socially tone deaf manner replied " I just hired a ft person for that role. Why are you involved?" This exchange was in front of 25 or so people ( industry employers and faculty this adjunct brought in for event) Im sure we all have these stories.



In closing, a fair amount of cynicism does help to protect ourselves while adjuncting.

Thanks again for the support!

[Ruralguy]

If students contact you about their final grades, you can explain as much as you care to. If they protest, send them a link to the appeals process, assuming there is one, and then just be done with it unless the school contacts you. If they (students) contact you in a year, either dont reply or just tell them that at this point theyd have to contact the registrar or whomever deals with this crud.

LORs are totally up to you. Many of folks write LORS for people after either the writer or the job/student candidate has left the original school. Keep any contact to just discuss whether or not you are doing the LOR. I dont think a school can really stop you from ALL contact unless it was an expressed term of your termination or non renewal.
But be sensible. If you contact any student, dont discuss why you left or opinions on school policy.

[Langue_doc]

Requiring adjuncts to work in any capacity after the end of their contract is probably a violation of labor laws. You shouldn't even need to check your email. If you do need to communicate with students, just let them know that you are no longer an employee of that institution so will not be checking your email or will be available to discuss their grades.

You are no longer on the payroll, so do not volunteer your time! Forward all student requests and complaints (other than LORs) to the chair.

[hester]

You are correct about labor laws. Never thought of that.

If they ask me to do a task, it's arguably illegal. We are the Uber drivers of higher Ed.

Thanks for that line of thinking!

[marshwiggle]

If students contact you about their final grades, you can explain as much as you care to. If they protest, send them a link to the appeals process, assuming there is one, and then just be done with it unless the school contacts you. If they (students) contact you in a year, either dont reply or just tell them that at this point theyd have to contact the registrar or whomever deals with this crud.

LORs are totally up to you. Many of folks write LORS for people after either the writer or the job/student candidate has left the original school. Keep any contact to just discuss whether or not you are doing the LOR.

Just one point: Sometimes institutions to whom LORs are sent want them on university letterhead. In that case, you're out of luck. (Or rather, the student is.)

[Ruralguy]

The LOR thing is minor. Its unlikely to come up much, and if it does, its totally optional.

[Ruralguy]

Its not illegal for them to ask for work product from your time there even if it requires a bit of effort to dredge up an old set of grades or what have you. You ate under no obligation to do anything but that. You can brush off old students, and no faculty will be in contact. If a student protests a grade, chair may ask you  for a justification, but they might not bother for the same reasons you gave...you dont work there, so why should they bother you?

[jerseyjay]

You have no obligation to the school or department or the students once you have finished your duties for the semester. This includes submitting final grades to the registrar, and depending on the school, may include submitting your final gradebook and final exam to the department or other such thing. At some schools I have taught, all adjuncts were required to copy or print out the  course gradebook, which listed exam grades, etc. Other schools don't care and do not require anything besides the final grades.

At my school, the role of the professor (any professor--full-time or adjunct) in a grade appeal is to explain and justify the grade. After that it goes to the chair, and after that, the dean (and after that to the appropriate senate committee, then the provost, etc.)

If I were a chair and a student contested a grade in a course taught by a former adjunct, I might reach out to the former adjunct and ask if he could provide a one-paragraph explanation/justification for the grade. I would couch it as a request, making clear it is not required, etc. This is also, to some degree, a matter of courtesy to the professor. Of course, if I thought the professor was totally off base I might just make an executive decision and grade the student's work myself.

For what it is worth, this is the same view I would have for a former full-timer as well. Once somebody is no longer working, they are no longer working. Although, sometimes it doesn't hurt to ask for help if necessary.

Of course, you have no obligation to even open any email sent to you form a former employer. If you really do not care about ever teaching there again, or the chair's opinion of you, just ignoring the situation might be the best thing.

Before my current job, I taught as an adjunct at more than a dozen schools over about 20 years. By definition, each of these has ended (or will end) at some point or another. I usually set the automatic messaging on my campus email to say something like I am no longer working here, and advise them to contact the department chair for any questions.

(At the same time, in my more than 20 years of teaching, I have never had a formal grade complaint. So having two in one semester seems to indicate something--perhaps about the culture of the school.)

[Langue_doc]

You are correct about labor laws. Never thought of that.

If they ask me to do a task, it's arguably illegal. We are the Uber drivers of higher Ed.

Thanks for that line of thinking!

I'll send you a PM either tomorrow or on Wednesday.