ADJUNCTS IN SOCIAL WORK

PROGRAMS: GOOD PRACTICE OR

UNETHICAL?

Catherine Pearlman, PhD, LCSW

College of New Rochelle
Department of Social Work
November 2, 2013
 Goals
• Encourage you to considered your
program’s practices

• Hopefully you can make one change

 Adjuncts in Social Work
• Increasing students enrolled in SW
programs (up 51%)

• Decreasing number of FT faculty

(decrease of 8%)

• As of 1993, SW programs have more

part-time faculty than tenured
 Existing Research
• FT faculty are more than 4 times more likely to have
doctoral degree than adjuncts

• Only about half of adjuncts have an office space for

private meetings

• Adjuncts teach more students on average

(FT have responsibilities for research, service,
advising)

• Large salary discrepancy even if one accounts for

other duties

• Limited access to benefits

 Why Adjuncts Teach
• University environment

• Keep fresh with growing trends

• Enjoy being with students

 Benefits of Using an
Adjunct
Benefits for Students

• Current Practice and field experience

• Conscientiousness
• Students exposed to specialty practice
• Knowledge of workforce trends, job
availability, etc
 Benefits of Using an
Adjunct
For Tenured and the University:

• Tenured teach fewer courses

• Focus on Research and service
• Time to write grants and increase
money and prestige
• Better teaching times
• Cost Savings
 The Downside of using
Adjuncts
• Less likely to attend conferences or
engage in research

• Little advance notice of assignments

• No job security
 The Issues continued
• Lack of availability to students

• Adjuncts try to do same job without

comparable resources

• Graduate rates decline with increase of use

of part-time faculty
Is this more of an ethical
issue in social work?
SW profession built:
• Moral code: Right and wrong,
• Duty and obligation to vulnerable
people
• Code of Ethics
 Ethical Issues
Social Justice
• Social workers strive for equality,
• Advocate on behalf of the oppressed, and
• Work to eradicate discrimination

How is this relevant to the discussion of Adjuncts?

 Ethics
• Adjuncts mostly women, older, or
retired
• Buyers market
• Adjuncts subsidize full-time faculty
• Utilitarianism – not the greatest good
for greatest number
 Ethics
• Make significantly less money with
same job expectations

• Same expectations, unequal resources

 Unethical Treatment of
Students
• Nontraditional Students with higher
percentage of adjuncts
o Less time to prepare for classes
o Less access to basic supports
o Less available for student communication
o Lower educational attainment of instructor
o Possible lower graduation rates
 How to improve:
• Distribute courses more evenly

• Increase salary

• Provide benefits, even if higher buy in

• Access to retirement plans

• Improve job security for adjuncts depending

on years of connection

• Early notification of course to allow for

proper prep and consultation
 How to Improve
• Integrate adjuncts into program
o Orientation and tour
o Office space
o Access to copier and support
services
o Information on how to get security,
maintenance, tech support
o Mentoring
o Curriculum development input
Thank you for your interest