The Whitworthian

Issue date: 12/4/07 Last Updated: 12/6/07

NOTE: This article contains a correction.

The number of the adjunct professors is increasing at universities across the nation, but Whitworth's statistics reflect just the opposite.

According to a Nov. 20 article in the New York Times, three decades ago adjuncts and faculty without tenure represented only 43 percent of professors, but now they account for nearly 70 percent of professors at both public and private colleges and universities.

Vice president for Academic Affairs Michael Le Roy said the number of non-tenure faculty teaching at Whitworth has increased, but Whitworth's statistics are nearly opposite of the average university.

Le Roy said 60 percent of Whitworth faculty are tenured or tenure-track, while approximately 40 percent are non-tenured.

According to the Faculty Handbook, tenure is designed to give professors the freedom to present challenging or controversial material for academic purposes without fear of termination.

Professor of English Doug Sugano thinks it is good to have as many full-time tenure track professors as possible.

"[It is] better for the students, the faculty and the administration," Sugano said. "Then more faculty are engaged and invested in the university and faculty governance."

According to the Times article, a concern regarding non-tenured faculty is that they will lack effective teaching abilities.

However, Le Roy said some of the best faculty members, such as professor of history Dale Soden and associate professor of English Laurie Lamon, are full-time but non-tenure track.

"They are outstanding people, great teachers and most Whitworth people don't walk around in their mind saying, 'OK, he's non-tenure track, he's tenure track'," Le Roy said. "I don't think people have those categories in their mind."

Le Roy said having an all-tenured faculty would not be beneficial to Whitworth, especially if there is an enrollment decline or financial problems.

"If we ever went through a significant enrollment crisis or had a financial downturn, we would need to lay people off," Le Roy said. "Laying off tenured people is much harder to do. It puts the institution at greater risk. I think it's important for us to keep some flexibility in the faculty ranks."

Lecturer position

The institution has taken measures to maintain the ratio of adjuncts to tenured faculty by creating the lecturer position in 2006, associate dean for faculty development and scholarship Michael Ingram said in an e-mail interview.

"Some individuals were teaching a few classes here, and a few at other schools in town," Ingram said. "Also some Whitworth departments were hiring many adjuncts to teach classes."

Le Roy thought of creating the lecturer position, in which non-tenure professors could teach more classes instead of just one or two, Ingram said.

"The full-time lecturers teach about seven classes a year," Ingram said. "This means we are hiring fewer individuals and providing more training for these lecturers."

Over the course of two years, the addition of the lecturer position has helped ease the need for adjuncts, Ingram said.

Faculty President Noelle Weirsma said it is important to realize the impact of lecturers.

"One reason has to do with the idea of incorporating [adjunct] faculty as lecturers [to] really [recognize] all that they contribute through that lecturer status," Weirsma said.

Many of Whitworth's competitor institutions also have lecturer positions, such as Pacific Lutheran University, Wheaton College, University of Portland and Azusa Pacific University.

French lecturer Leslie Norman said she is pleased with the lecturer position.

"I'm very happy to be a lecturer; it seems we're taken more seriously here," Norman said. "I enjoy what I'm doing. I'm willing and able to hang out here for time with students. I have an office space. I'm just really happy Whitworth created the lecturer position."

Although lecturers do not have much influence on governance, they are still welcome and encouraged to participate, Norman said.

"We attend department meetings, but there are also a lot of other meetings we aren't required to attend, though we're welcome to," Norman said. "For the most part it's positive."

Norman, who has been a lecturer for two years, said the position has some benefits that differ from those of adjuncts.

"Unlike adjuncts, we get some health and retirement benefits," Norman said.

Norman said her goal is to continue teaching at Whitworth as a full-time or tenured professor.

Adjunct professors

Assistant director of the Evening Teacher Certification Cohort Program Sandi Bennett said adjunct professors are hired specifically to teach one or two classes in order to meet student needs.

Sugano said he has been on the tenure track for six years. He said that prior to receiving tenure, he felt as if he was not part of the faculty.*

"I felt as a part-timer [and] even full time at the university, that if I was not tenured I was not a part of the faculty," Sugano said. "I was not consulted when things were being decided or when things happened."

He said the English department in particular has fewer part-time positions.

"The administration has made a decision to hire and keep more tenured faculty and full-time lecturers," Sugano said. "It's gotten better the last two to three years. It's an ongoing plan, and they can only follow it as the budget allows, over a period of time."

Norman said there is not a need for adjunct professors to have as much of a say in governance because there is less responsibility.

"Tenured or track two faculty, for instance, have advisees, which is a huge responsibility in and of itself," Norman said.

Training for adjunct professors

According to the article, a big concern about the decline in the number of tenured faculty is that part-time faculty will not have enough hours to prep for class and spend time with their students.

Bennett said time has not been a problem.

"It's just the matter of taking the time to walk across the hall and teach the math class," Bennett said. "For my regular position, I don't have work to take home in the evenings, so I can prepare for the class in the evenings and on the weekends."

Bennett said she is able to set aside time to meet with students who need help with assignments.

"The continuing studies department is marvelous in the flexibility," Bennett said. "They allow me to offer office hours for my students and we have discussion boards available [on Blackboard] for help, plus e-mail."

Ingram said Academic Affairs takes care to ensure their adjunct professors' ability to communicate with their students and provides training for adjunct professors.

"We provide training on technology each year on how to use Blackboard, etc.," Ingram said. "Individual departments provide other sorts of training. Communication Studies and Modern Languages are particularly good at orienting and supporting their adjunct faculty."

Weirsma said one benefit for part-time professors is that they can teach while continuing to work in their field. For instance, lecturer in psychology Tresa Schmautz is a private practitioner in Spokane.

Schmautz said in an e-mail interview she is a licensed independent clinical social worker. She added she works with couples, adolescents and adults.

"While we're busy being full-time faculty and we aren't always available to work and practice professionally here in this community, she's able to do both," Weirsma said. "So what that gives our students is a chance to work with and network with someone who is practicing in this community."

Contact De Andra Kenoly at de.andra.kenoly@whitworthian.com. Contact Gabrielle Vaughn at gabrielle.vaughn@whitworthian.com.

*In the original article, Sugano's experience as a part-time professor was incorrectly identified. Sugano was hired at Whitworth in 1988 as a full-time tenure track professor, but has been tenured since 1994. Also, he was previously a part-time professor at California State University- Dominguez Hills.

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