It's a Situationship: How Online Contingent Faculty Talk About Their Needed Support
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v29i2.4507Keywords:
contingent faculty, online faculty, faculty development, adjunct faculty, online faculty developmentAbstract
This study used critical discourse analysis to examine how contingent faculty teaching in online programs talk about the support they need. We interviewed 10 online contingent faculty in the United States. Our findings suggest that our participants are off the radar and not included, their contingent role is a perceived gateway and is one of convenience for both the contingent faculty and the institution, and there is an imbalance of power. Online contingent faculty need to feel more included in the communication from the program or department and need to have more pedagogical and technical support. Additionally, they need more information to help support their students and professional development for themselves.
References
American Association of University Professors. (n.d.). Contingent faculty positions. https://www.aaup.org/issues/contingency
American Association of University Professors. (2005). Inequities persist for women and non-tenured faculty. The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession 2004-2005. http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/0A98969B-FA6C-40F5-8880-5E5DC3B7C36D/
0/05z.pdf
Benton, S., & Li, D. (2015). Professional development for online adjunct faculty: The chair’s role. The Department Chair, 26(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1002/dch.30027
Butters, D., & Gann, C. (2022). Towards professionalism in higher education: An exploratory case study of struggles and needs of online adjunct professors. Online Learning, 26(3), 259–273. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v26i3.2801
Chao, G. T. (2012). Organizational socialization: Background, basics, and a blueprint for adjustment at work. In S. W. J. Kozlowski (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of organization psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 579–614). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199928309.013.0018
Chapman, D. D. (2011). Contingent and tenured/tenure-track faculty: Motivations and incentives to teach distance. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 14(3). https://ojdla.com/archive/fall143/chapman143.pdf
Chun, E. B., & Evans, A. (2016, May 24). Approaches to building and sustaining a diverse adjunct workforce. Academic Leader. https://www.academic-leader.com/topics/faculty-recruitment-retention/approaches-to-building-and-sustaining-a-diverse-adjunct-workforce/
Colby, G. (2023, March). Data snapshot: Tenure and contingency in US higher education. https://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/AAUP Data Snapshot.pdf
Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory Into Practice, 39(3), 124–130. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1477543
Dailey-Hebert, A., Mandernach, B. J., Donnelli-Sallee, E., & Norris, V. R. (2014). Expectations, motivations, and barriers to professional development: Perspectives from adjunct instructors teaching online. The Journal of Faculty Development, 28(1), 67–82.
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/magna/jfd/2014/00000028/00000001/art00009
Dennis, M., Halbert, J. D., & Fornero, S. (2022). Structured development and support for online adjunct faculty. In S. Kumar & P. Arnold (Eds.), Quality in online programs: Approaches and practices in higher education (pp. 211–228). Brill.
Dolan, V. L. B. (2011). The isolation of online adjunct faculty and its impact on their performance. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,12(2), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v12i2.793
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Policy Press.
Fairclough, N. (1993). Critical discourse analysis and the marketization of public discourse: The universities. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 133–168. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42888773
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction (Vol. 2, pp. 258–284). Sage.
Fuller, R., Brown, M. K., & Smith, K. (Eds.). (2017). Adjunct faculty voices: Cultivating professional development and community at the front lines of higher education. Taylor & Francis.
Gappa, J. M., & Leslie, D. W. (1993). The invisible faculty: Improving the status of part-timers in higher education. Jossey-Bass.
Gupta, S. (2023). Situationship: How to cope when commitment is unclear. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-situationship-5216144
Halcrow, C., & Olson, M. R. (2008). Adjunct faculty: Valued resource or cheap labor? Focus on Colleges, Universities, and Schools, 2(1), 1–8. http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Halcrow,Cheryl,FOCUS,Vol2,Num1,2008.pdf
Hiller, J. (2024). My heart attack would have killed my livelihood if I’d still been an adjunct.Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/my-heart-attack-would-have-killed-my-livelihood-if-id-still-been-adjunct
Jaschik, S., & Lederman, D. (2019). 2019 Survey of faculty attitudes on technology. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/media/IHE_2019_Faculty_Tech_Survey_20191030.pdf
Kezar, A., & Holcombe, E. (2015). The professoriate reconsidered: What might the faculty look like in 2050? Academe, 101(6). https://www.aaup.org/article/professoriate-reconsidered#.W0PHp9hKii4
Kimme Hea, A. C. (2009). Perpetual contact: Rearticulating the anywhere, anytime pedagogical model of mobile and wireless composing. In A. C. Kimme Hea (Ed.), Going wireless: A critical exploration of wireless and mobile technologies for composition teachers and researchers (pp. 199–222). Hampton Press.
Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in language: A semiotic approach to literature and art. Columbia University Press.
Langlais, M. R., Podberesky, A, Toohey, L., & Lee, C. T. (2024). Defining and describing situationships: An exploratory investigation. Sexuality & Culture, 28, 1831-1857.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-024-10210-6
Lyons, R. E. (2007). Best practices for supporting adjunct faculty. Anker.
Magda, A. J. (2019). Online learning at public universities: Recruiting, orienting, and supporting online faculty. The Learning House, Inc.
Magda, A. J., Russell, P., & Clinfelter, D. L. (2015). Recruiting, orienting, & supporting online adjunct faculty: A survey of practices. The Learning House, Inc.
Mandernach, B. J., Donnelli-Salle, E., & Dailey-Hebert, A. (2021). Assessing institutional support for remote adjunct faculty teaching online. In A. Dailey-Hebert, B. J.Mandernach, & E. Donnelli-Sallee (Eds.), Handbook of research on inclusive
development for remote adjunct faculty in higher education (pp. 291–300). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6758-6.ch021
Mandernach, J, Register, L., & O’Donnell, C. (2015). Characteristics of adjunct faculty teaching online: Institutional implications. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 18(1), 1-10.
Martin, F., & Kumar, S. (2021). Barriers to online education and strategies to overcoming them. In L. Cifuentes (Ed.), A guide to administering distance learning (pp. 43–60). Brill.
Martin, F., Sun, T., & Westine, C. D. (2020). A systematic review of research on online teaching and learning from 2009 to 2018. Computers & Education, 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104009
Marzano, M. P., & Allen, R. (2016). Online vs. face-to-face course evaluations: Considerations for administrators and faculty. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration,19(4). https://ojdla.com/archive/winter194/marzano_allen194.pdf
Melonçon, L. (2017). Contingent faculty, online writing instruction, and professional development in technical and professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 26(3), 256–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2017.1339489
Miller, C. T., & Digges-Elliott, H. (2021). Status of online learning. In L. Cifuentes (Ed.), A guide to administering distance learning (pp. 1–19). Brill.
Mueller, B., Mandernach, B. J., & Sanderson, K. (2013). Adjunct versus full-time faculty: Comparison of student outcomes in the online classroom. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 9(3), 341–352. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol9no3/mueller_0913.pdf
Mullet, D. R. (2018). A general critical discourse analysis framework for educational research. Journal of Advanced Academics, 29(2), 116–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X18758260
Nittle, N. (2022, March 21). Adjunct professors, the ‘backbone’ of higher education, push for better wages and benefits. USA Today.
Piña, A. A., & Bohn, L. (2014). Assessing online faculty: More than student surveys and design rubrics. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 15(3), 25–34.
Piña, A. A., & Bohn, L. (2016). Assessing online faculty. In A. A. Piña & J. B. Huett (Eds.),Beyond the online course: Leadership perspectives on e-learning (pp. 317–330). Information Age Publishing.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2014). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice (8th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Rich, T. M. (2016). Adjuncts matter: A qualitative study of adjuncts’ job satisfaction. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 19(3).https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall193/rich193.html
Rich, T. M. (2017). The value of adjuncts: A study of the intrinsic factors impacting field seminar instruction. Field Scholar, 7(1), 1–17.
Robinson, R. S. (2014). Purposive sampling. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 5243–5245). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2337
Schwandt, T. A. (2015). The Sage dictionary of qualitative inquiry (4th ed.). Sage.
Slade, J. D., Robb, M., Sherrod, B., & Hunker, D. (2017). Online adjunct faculty support: An innovative use of a learning management system. Nurse Educator, 42(3), 143–146. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000000337
Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., Scott, S. B., Kelmer, G., Markman, H. J., & Fincham, F. D.(2017). Asymmetrically committed relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 34, 1241–1259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407516672013
Tajfel, H. (1978). Interindividual behavior and intergroup behavior. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 27–45). Academic Press.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & L. W. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Nelson-Hall.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. (n.d.). About Carnegie Classification. https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/
Tipple, R. (2010). Effective leadership of online adjunct faculty. Online Journal of DistanceLearning Administration, 13(1).
https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/tipple131.html
van Dijk, T. A. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 4(2),249–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
van Dijk, T. A. (1995). Aims of critical discourse analysis. Japanese Discourse, 1(1), 17–27.
van Dijk, T. A. (2011). Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction. Sage.
Weingarten, R., Ingram, F. C., & DeJesus, E. (2023). An army of temps: AFT contingent faculty quality of work/life report 2022. American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2023/Contingent_Faculty_Survey_2022_interactive.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Yvonne Earnshaw, Mary Ann Bodine Al-Sharif

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.
Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions

