Adjunct professor

Adjunct professor, also known as adjunct lecturer or adjunct instructor (collectively, adjunct faculty), is a broad-concept type of professors and faculty in higher education, at an academic rank below the highest level of professorship.

United States and Canada

Adjuncts are non-tenure-track faculty in the U.S. and in Canada. In Canada in particular, adjunct professors are often nominated in recognition of active involvement with the appointing institution, while they are employed by government, industry, a profession or another institution. Unlike in the US, if the appointment is strictly to teach one or more courses, the Course Lecturer appointment is used instead.

The number of adjunct professors in higher education in the United States has increased sharply since the 1970s. In 1975, adjuncts represented roughly 24% of instructional staff at degree-granting institutions, whereas in 2011 they represented over 40% of instructional staff.^[1] According to the New York Times' Alan Finder, the increase in the use of non-tenured faculty results from “financial pressures, administrators’ desire for more flexibility in hiring, firing and changing course offerings, and the growth of community colleges and regional public universities focused on teaching basics and preparing students for jobs.”^[2] According to a report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the 2010 national median pay per course for adjunct faculty at private undergraduate institutions was $3,000, while the same figure at public undergraduate institutions was $2,511.^[3]

In other countries

In contrast, a similar designation, profesor adjunto, does imply stable full-time employment in countries such as Argentina and Brazil. In parts of Spain, profesor adjunto is a non-tenured position. There exist similar Adjunktus in Hungary. In Thailand, adjunct (assistant/associate) professors are considered "non-regular officers".

References

1. Weissman, Jordan. "The Ever-Shrinking Role of Tenured College Professors (in 1 Chart)". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
2. Finder, Alan (2007-11-20). "Decline of the Tenure Track Raises Concerns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
3. "Here’s the News: The Annual Report on the Status of the Profession 2012-13." (PDF). American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Retrieved December 8, 2015.