e-Communiqué

August/September 2007

Published exclusively for members of ACCED-I

Today, many campuses rely on graduate assistants and adjuncts to teach over 50% of the courses being taught on campus. These adjuncts receive no medical/retirement benefits (although some of our adjuncts teach more classes per semester than their fellow Ph.D. colleagues), no recognition, and like Rodney Dangerfield said, “They just don’t get no respect.”

Many articles have been written about parents who feel they are not getting their money’s worth when they choose a college for their children with a prestigious faculty—only to find their students sitting in huge lecture halls being taught by graduate assistants. They feel duped by the university marketing collateral woven with pictures of Nobel Laureates and famous politicians who will be teaching their students. It is a great recruiting tool, but not so great when the reality hits them that these highly publicized professors are off doing research rather than spending time in the classroom.

As usual, most of the blame falls on the university system which is research driven; and places little value on teaching and service. In order for our Ph.D.'s to earn tenure, they must research and publish. The university “rewards” this requirement by taking full time professors out of the classroom (course reassignment) in exchange for the much needed time to conduct research and publish. That’s great, but now who are we going to get to teach our classes? Especially in such applied fields as meetings, conventions, trade shows, events, and entertainment? We are going to have to comb the industry for people who are not only educated, but have an interest in giving back to their profession through teaching.

We have adjuncts on our campus who have earned masters degrees and law degrees, own their own businesses, have industry certifications, and are leaders in their respective industry associations. Not to mention an adjunct who won a university wide Excellence in Teaching Award.

Adjuncts interrupt their daily work schedule to come to campus without so much as a parking pass, office space, business card, or pat on the back. Some of our adjuncts make more in an hour in their own field, than they are paid by the university for the entire semester.

We had an adjunct who recently retired from his 25 years of service teaching a senior level course. To acknowledge his incredible contribution, we planned a small reception with extremely low attendance by “real” faculty and administrators. When he approached the lectern to accept his plaque, he blasted the university system for the lack of respect he had been shown over the past 25 years.

On the other hand, I work in a department where I am the only “bona fide” professor attempting to build an event management program. So, this teaching area consists of me and seven adjuncts. This has turned me into a quasi department chair (scheduling classes, recruiting adjuncts, training adjuncts, and evaluating adjuncts—not to mention—developing the curriculum and educational products needed to teach in this emerging field).

So, who will take on the duties of full-time faculty such as serving on committees, developing curriculum and writing textbooks (which is becoming increasingly less valued by the university)? Who will sit on the various department committees such as the department curriculum committee, strategic planning committee, promotion and tenure committee, etc.; not to mention the various college and university committees? It certainly won’t be adjunct professors—no matter how qualified or interested they are in serving the campus community, because, after all, they aren’t “real” faculty in the eyes of the university and their colleagues. We have built yet another level of hierarchy in the academic community. In addition to J.D.s and Ed.D.s not being as valued as Ph.D.s, because their degrees are not considered to be traditional “research” degrees, we are now segregating our adjunct faculty.

I am of the opinion that we need to search for every legitimate opportunity we can to level the playing field for adjuncts.

Below please find a few tips on how to include adjuncts in areas outside of the classroom:

• Invite adjuncts to attend department meetings and social events. This will give them a big-picture perspective on the goals and objectives of the department. It will also allow the colleagues in the department to be introduced to the adjuncts.
  
• Don’t assume that adjuncts lack the credentials to teach on campus. Many are successful people with busy lives who choose to be an adjunct as a way of “giving back.”
  
• Create a legitimate “shared” office space (if space is at a premium) that does not double as a mailroom.
• Provide a training program to indoctrinate the adjuncts into the system and the culture.
  
• Include adjuncts on the department email listserv to keep them abreast of changes in policy and the activities of the department/college.
  
• Invite adjuncts to team up with full-time colleagues on research projects such as case studies. Most adjuncts, because they are out working in the industry every day, have a wealth of experiences that would make interesting teaching case studies for students.
  
• As far as who gets first priority for conference space, what is the policy on your campus now? Does a full professor have priority over an associate professor; and an associate professor priority over an assistant professor? If so, an adjunct would be at the bottom of the ladder. If there is no formal policy on the matter, then create one. Be proactive rather than reactive to the situation. If a policy does not exist, create one on campus that clarifies the role of the adjunct outside of the classroom. But, try to be objective and look at the challenge from both sides.

The real question is: Should the faculty who is doing the majority of the teaching be ostracized? Clearly, I think not.

About the author:
Kathleen (Kathy) Beard Nelson, Ph.D., CSEP, CMP teaches entertainment and event management courses at the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She holds both Bachelor and Master's degrees in Hotel Administration from UNLV, and earned her Doctorate in Sociology in 2004.

Kathy is co-author of the "International Dictionary of Event Management," along with Dr. Joe Goldblatt, CSEP. She is the author of "Special Events Management in Introduction to the Hospitality Industry," and co-author of "Entertainment Management" in "Introduction to the Hospitality Industry," along with Pat Merl, CSEP. Kathy has authored a chapter entitled "Special Events Management" in "Hotel Operations Management." In 2006, Kathy completed chapters in "Special Events Management" and "Entertainment Management" (along with Pat Merl, CSEP) in "Hospitality Operations," Ninemeier and Perdue, Prentice Hall; as well as "Club Entertainment" (Chapter) in "Contemporary Club Management," Second Edition, The Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (along with Dan Nelson, CSEP, CMP). She served as the editor of Campus Events Professional from 2003 – 2005.

Kathy has over 25 years of business ownership in the entertainment and special events industry. She is a recipient of the distinguished Sam and Mary Boyd Award for Outstanding Service from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Additionally, she has received several awards related to her endeavors in events and entertainment.

Kathy is involved in international standardization of practices as part of the International Event Management Body of Knowledge Executive Committee. She is the Director of the Executive Masters in Hospitality Administration at the Harrah Hotel College and advises The International School of Hospitality (TISOH) on certificate course development for meeting and event planning.

Kathy recently returned from South Africa where she travels every year to work on the global EMBOK (Event Management Body of Knowledge) project.