Studies Highlight Unexpected Impacts of Part-Time Professors on Students, Faculty

With the numbers of adjunct, or part-time, professors increasing at colleges and universities across the country, experts at North Carolina State University are adding to a growing body of research that evaluates the impact of adjunct professors on students and faculty in higher education.

A study completed by Dr. Audrey Jaeger, associate professor of higher education at NC State, found that the use of part-time instructors could contribute to undergraduate drop-out rates. In related research, NC State Associate Professor of Higher Education Dr. Paul Umbach found that the use of part-time instructors could also have an adverse effect on tenure-track faculty.

Between 1970 and 2003, the number of part-time faculty at U.S. universities increased by 422 percent while full-time faculty increased by 71 percent, recent research shows.

Jaeger and Umbach presented their findings earlier this month at the 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jaeger, who partnered with M. Kevin Eagan, Jr., a graduate student at the University of California at Los Angeles, analyzed data from California’s community college system to determine if part-time faculty members affect the average likelihood of associate’s degree completion at community colleges.

Jaeger’s study, published in the September issue of Research in Higher Education, concluded that community college students who planned to transfer to four-year institutions were more likely to drop classes taught by part-time instructors. It also showed that as students’ exposure to part-time faculty members increased, their likelihood of completing an associate’s degree significantly decreased. Jaeger believes that institutions should re-examine which courses part-time faculty teach, and when students are typically exposed to the greatest number of part-time faculty.

Meanwhile, Umbach’s study asserts that dependence on adjuncts may actually hurt the performance of full-time, tenure-track faculty members because full-time faculty tend to feel less secure at institutions that might replace them with part-time instructors and lecturers. He also found that, when adjuncts accounted for a substantial share of instructors in an institution, the full-time professors devoted significantly fewer hours to preparing for class and advising students. Umbach’s research was presented for the first time at the Jacksonville conference.

Both Jaeger and Umbach are quick to point out that part-time faculty members are not to blame for the decrease in student success. They agree that part-time professors serve an important role across all institutions, and that colleges and universities need to work to be committed to part-time faculty, in order for part-time faculty to be committed to their work.

“Most institutional infrastructures are not accommodating for part-time faculty,” Umbach says. “If adjuncts don’t have offices, how easy is it for them to meet with students? If they are not being paid for time outside of the classroom, are they able to spend adequate time preparing for class?”

“There are a lot of conversations taking place within individual departments and colleges on how to best utilize and integrate part-time instructors,” Jaeger adds. “However, it is crucial that this conversation be held at an institution level.”