Contingent faculty at extended campuses: framework for leaders

Abstract

This research was done to explore the worklife of contingent (part-time; adjunct) faculty at extended campuses. These faculty have been overlooked in the research literature. Their numbers continue to grow and the extended campuses where they teach continue to multiply. Because this subset of faculty teach a significant portion of the non-traditional student population, their story needed to be told. The qualitative research technique of a multiple location case study was used for this research. Contingent faculty participants from three extended campuses from a Midwestern university were used in the study. Participants responded to a semi-structured interview protocol. Their responses were recorded and transcribed and subsequently themes were drawn their responses and matched against a framework of respect, academic freedom, equity, collegiality, flexibility and professional growth. The participants responses were analyzed and a discussion and implications for practice section was produced for each framework category