Editorial: Adjunct professors provide important teaching niche

Full-time professors are a dying breed. In 1960, 75 percent of college instructors in the United… Full-time professors are a dying breed. In 1960, 75 percent of college instructors in the United States were full-time tenured or tenure-track professors, according to The New York Times. Today, only 27 percent are full-time professors.

Some might think that adjunct professors aren’t bona fide instructors and that the label “adjunct” implies an instructor with less credibility and aptitude. Adjuncts are, after all, freelance teachers who are teaching classes as a side job. But before one writes off the increase as a sign of decline in the quality of America’s upper-level education, consider the benefits adjunct professors provide.

Whether they’re practicing journalists, engineers or lawyers, adjuncts are all … practicing. They’re all working in their respective industries, meaning they should be up to date on the latest knowledge, techniques and happenings. Contrast this with the tenured professor who has been so ensconced in academia he’s perhaps lost touch with the latest developments. Whereas the full-time professor might have more connections in academia, the adjunct is more involved in the industry. For students hoping to network through instructors, the adjuncts are current insiders. Also, the adjunct professor has less affiliation with the school, in an official sense at least. He’s less likely to get caught up in any school or departmental politics. And when it comes to structuring the syllabus, he has more freedom than the tenured professor — which in truth could affect students both positively and negatively.

At institutions noted for their research — for example, Pitt’s famous for its medical research — the full-time professors double as researchers. While it would be unfair to pigeonhole the full-time professor as a devout researcher apathetic toward his teaching duties, the adjunct professor might be the expert who’s teaching because he loves his field and wants to share his knowledge with students.

Of course, the adjunct is often transitory, teaching only a few semesters before he returns full-time to his field. For students, this means schools usually don’t provide real offices, making office hours tough to schedule. And seeking a letter of recommendation and keeping ties with a temporary instructor can be more difficult. The adjunct who’s less zealous about his teaching can also slack off without fear of losing his job. He knows he’s leaving after this year, right?

Ideally, adjuncts serve as efficient teachers. They cost employers less than full-time professors and can fill in empty slots in the teaching roster. The adjunct system isn’t perfect, but it provides its own distinctive merits. Seemingly all teachers will face criticisms from students, but students shouldn’t be predisposed to see adjuncts as less than legitimate instructors.