Adjunct hiring on rise; TCU tops area list
Bailey Shiffler
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
Comparatively, in 2006, SMU had 66 percent full-time instructors and Baylor had 83 percent.
Smith explained that university budgets have not increased incrementally with inflation, so administrators have been forced to either raise tuition or cut labor costs.
Though tight budgets are partially to blame, Provost Nowell Donovan said, the rapid increase of student enrollment within certain academic fields has led to TCU's need for more faculty members.
Reasons for the rise
"Some majors soar and then they decrease," Donovan said. "So the best way of responding to that sort of pattern is with adjuncts."
Daniel Williams, chair of the English department, attributed the number of adjuncts in his department to the unexpectedly large number of students in the freshman class.
The English department has three adjuncts teaching this semester, Williams said, because it had to add more class sections at the last minute.
"The situation is, when you have numbers of students you did not anticipate and you have to accommodate them, you're either going to add new sections or you're going to raise (class) enrollments, and we try not to raise enrollments," Williams said.
Donovan also credited certain departments' usage of adjuncts to the core curriculum.
David Grant, chair of the religion department, said the number of adjuncts in his department was driven up because of the religious traditions requirement in the core curriculum.
He said because of this requirement, most students will end up taking an introductory religion course, which creates the need for more sections and, in turn, more professors.
"It does seem to me that, with regard to introductory courses, the university ought to be committed to bringing full-time faculty to teach as many of those as possible," Grant said, "simply because that's one of the things that makes TCU different than a state school or a community college."
In many instances, though, adjunct professors bring a certain skill or aspect of teaching to the table that might not otherwise be available.
Smith explained that university budgets have not increased incrementally with inflation, so administrators have been forced to either raise tuition or cut labor costs.
Though tight budgets are partially to blame, Provost Nowell Donovan said, the rapid increase of student enrollment within certain academic fields has led to TCU's need for more faculty members.
Reasons for the rise
"Some majors soar and then they decrease," Donovan said. "So the best way of responding to that sort of pattern is with adjuncts."
Daniel Williams, chair of the English department, attributed the number of adjuncts in his department to the unexpectedly large number of students in the freshman class.
The English department has three adjuncts teaching this semester, Williams said, because it had to add more class sections at the last minute.
"The situation is, when you have numbers of students you did not anticipate and you have to accommodate them, you're either going to add new sections or you're going to raise (class) enrollments, and we try not to raise enrollments," Williams said.
Donovan also credited certain departments' usage of adjuncts to the core curriculum.
David Grant, chair of the religion department, said the number of adjuncts in his department was driven up because of the religious traditions requirement in the core curriculum.
He said because of this requirement, most students will end up taking an introductory religion course, which creates the need for more sections and, in turn, more professors.
"It does seem to me that, with regard to introductory courses, the university ought to be committed to bringing full-time faculty to teach as many of those as possible," Grant said, "simply because that's one of the things that makes TCU different than a state school or a community college."
In many instances, though, adjunct professors bring a certain skill or aspect of teaching to the table that might not otherwise be available.
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