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Addressing collegiate adjunct faculty information needs.

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Abstract

This essay examines the research and professional needs of academic adjunct faculty, and posits how academic and public librarians might best address those needs. After a brief discussion of the current state of the academic teaching profession, the essay presents a profile of adjunct faculty. The essay then discusses how librarians can meet the information needs of adjunct faculty in regards to their professional and career development.

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Much has been written in the past few decades about the difficulties posed at academic institutions for many adjunct faculty, those who are temporary, non-tenure track, and below full-time status. Adjunct faculty often receive no benefits such as health insurance, are allowed to teach only a certain number of courses per term, have no representation at department meetings, and are not guaranteed classes from one semester to the next (Leatherman, 1999; AAUP, 1997; Gappa and Leslie, 1993; Wallace, 1984). Yet, for a number of years, statistics have consistently shown that the rate of adjunct faculty has steadily risen, while the rate of full-time faculty teaching has steadily declined. A 1999 Modern Language Association (MLA) report on part-time faculty members, for example, found that in English departments alone, the number of part- to full-timers was oftentimes 1.5 to 1 or higher. Salaries for part-time instructors, meanwhile, have been consistently low over the past few decades, particularly in the last several years. While many writers and organizations such as the American Association of University Professors and Modern Language Association have addressed issues regarding the decreasing number of tenure-track positions available and adjunct faculty rights, few writers have offered a profile of adjunct faculty or addressed how their research, teaching, and job status needs can be met.

My objective in this paper is not to serve as an advocate for the rights of adjunct instructors or critique institutions. Rather, I will examine how librarians--both public and academic--have addressed how best to meet the professional and career information needs of adjunct faculty and offer further insights into other ways such needs can be addressed. I will begin with a discussion of who comprises "adjunct faculty," including what many adjunct faculty want from their jobs. Before we can address information needs, we need to better understand who adjunct faculty are exactly. I will then discuss how librarians have tried to address the research and job needs of...

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