The Role of Adjunct Faculty in Schools of Social Work

Background

Adjunct faculty play an integral role within higher education, and have grown in use, particularly in response to the rise of online education and the decline of institutional budgets to hire full-time faculty (Norman et al., 2020; Pearlman, 2013). While universities have continued to increase their use of adjuncts, several areas of concern have been identified, including retention, pay equity, training/professional development and overall support for adjuncts within the university structure.

Within social work, adjuncts often bring the practice experience perspective, as many are working full-time in the field and teaching part-time. Adjunct social work faculty are required to have two years post-MSW experience, so that they can demonstrate the behaviors and skills being taught in class, be role models for students, link field work to theories and techniques and bring their own practice examples to the classroom (Hitchcock & Marquart, 2023; Johnson & Munch, 2010). How schools support adjuncts vary, in terms of onboarding, required training, mentorship, professional development, as well as compensation and advancement opportunities. (Clarke et al., 2011; Hitchcock & Marquart, 2023; Holcomb, 2021).

Methods

This was an exploratory survey that asked the questions: 1) how are adjunct faculty in social work programs recruited, trained, and retained? 2) What are the challenges and rewards of employing adjunct faculty in schools of social work?

A questionnaire was developed and sent via Qualtrics. The questionnaire was sent to all deans and directors of MSW social work programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between June 2023 and November 2023 (N=319). There were 99 responses to the survey, a response rate of 31%. A comparison of the profile of our respondents and MSW programs accredited by CSWE showed them to be very similar. For example, 65.9% of accredited MSW programs are in public institutions, while 68.6% of our respondents were in public institutions.

Results

Numbers of adjuncts ranged from one to 150 per year. Most adjuncts were recruited through practicum and community agencies and alumni networks. Many do receive orientation and training on learning management systems, school policies, and course content. Rates of pay for a course ranged from $2,500 to $7,400. Most schools use student course evaluations to evaluate their adjuncts.

Themes that emerged from the qualitive questions that asked participants about challenges of using adjunct faculty include issues with retention, teaching experience , limited time to commit to the teaching role, and lack of connection to the school/community.

Conclusions

As schools of social work continue to rely on the use of adjuncts we need to consider how to best support adjuncts. Recommendations for support at the institutional level include consideration for how adjuncts are compensated and how contracts are determined (i.e. length of time/guaranteed number of courses). We will also discuss recommendations for how to support the teaching role of adjuncts, including how programs can provide training and professional development to ensure adjuncts understand how to teach), as well as manage their classrooms to create engaging spaces that support student learning.