Adjunct faculty teach DU students in every college, but they are a heterogeneous group, comprising full-time professionals, recent or current graduate students, and everything in between. Many have been teaching at DU or elsewhere for many years, while others are just beginning their careers. Offering support to adjunct faculty is essential to DU’s educational mission—especially as national data suggests that adjuncts can face an information gap, making it difficult to acclimate or feel like part of an academic community. While the most important connection between adjunct faculty and their specific context comes from college and program onboarding, we are taking steps to offer optional, university-level onboarding and support.
To this end, the Offices of Teaching and Learning and the VPFA have launched a quarterly newsletter to keep adjunct faculty members informed on programming, policy, and other updates to their work. We are also launching an optional quarterly adjunct orientation (Save the Date: Fall 2021, September 8th, 5:30-7:30), paired with asynchronous web resources. Orientation will focus on connecting adjuncts with resources in their college and across campus, and foster community with other part-time faculty members.
You might not realize that adjunct faculty are eligible for stipended professional development opportunities through the OTL, as well as access to NCFDD resources. You can find the OTL calendar here and be sure to email them at otl@du.edu with any questions.