Look around your institution, and you are likely to see a world populated with adjuncts. Adjunct professors are becoming the backbone of the American university. But being an adjunct can be something of a death by a thousand paper cuts if not handled well by academic leadership.The good news is, you, as an academic leader, can address some of the problems associated with working as an adjunct. While some issues - like pay - may be out of your control, you can address some of the smaller realities that characterize the adjunct professor's life. By understanding what it means to be an adjunct, you can motivate these critical employees on which your university increasingly depends.
About the Author: Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti is a passionate educator with nearly a decade of experience in the higher education classroom. She is experienced in teaching history, marketing, writing, communications, and professional development, with significant professional experience in higher education administration. Lorenzetti is an experienced independent writer specializing in K-12 and higher education coverage, science and medical writing, market research and analysis, industry reports, business and technology coverage, and corporate communications. She is a confident public speaker and educator focusing on academic and training audiences and topics and is available to consult with institutions of higher education on marketing communications materials, faculty/staff development, and building academic programs. She is the author of nearly 1600 articles and written projects and four published books. Lorenzetti founded Hilltop Communications in 1997, and it has quickly grown to serve clients in many different industries with a variety of challenging projects ranging from journalistic coverage for trade magazines to analysis for industry and marketing research reports to copywriting for corporate communications and advertising. Prior to founding Hilltop Communications, Lorenzetti earned a Master's degree in higher education administration from Miami University and worked for a number of universities as registrar, academic advisor, and in admission, financial aid, and alumni affairs. Since the founding of Hilltop Communications, she has also become an adjunct professor (history, professional development, copywriting, marketing) and has served as Academic Dean for a small privately-held college.