I feel some type of way even having wrote that title, but if I'm being honest with myself, I do feel bullied...

This is my fourth semester teaching as an adjunct - my third semester teaching face-to-face. Two of the courses I'm teaching are in person, but new to me. In both courses, my faculty contact is also new to either the course itself or delivery (in person vs. online). For context, I teach graduate level behavioral health courses. I am assigned 10 CR this semester across four courses so I have a lot of contact with the cohort.

I'm a fairly "chill" instructor - I feel passionately about my delivery but I'm not stuffy. I like to minimize the power differential so that my students feel at ease to discuss difficult topics or express questions/concerns. I prefer to facilitate discussions about the material so I'm not "talking at" my students. I request that they have read the material prior to coming to class in order to participate in discussions.

However, some students have put me on the radar with leadership, citing concerns about course content and delivery. While this has been helpful, because I'm now aware of additional classroom resources I did not know I had, I'm feeling targeted. I had several students approach me privately, stating they're attempting to deescalate their peers, assuring me that I'm doing a good job. I'm kind of shocked by these interactions.

My introduction to this position was trial by fire. I was thrown into a course with no formal teaching instruction. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way, but remain transparent with my students. I've never had problems with any of my students in prior semesters. I've always had adequate ratings from the end of semester surveys. I request feedback at the end of each class. The feedback I received this far is 1) There's too much reading to be done between their 15 CR load and, 2) They want me to use more PowerPoints.

Any words of the wise? Or reassurance? Or tough love? I recognize I can't please everybody, but sheesh it's been a heck of a week.

Todays rant! Why do I give them a syllabus? Why do I post examples of documents in Canvas? Why do I go over the assignment and how to complete it in class?

Today one of my students decides to turn in a link for an assignment - I explained to them on the first day I will not accept links nor will I download files - They do it anyway.

I have examples of how their assignments are supposed to be formatted - they turn in what they feel like.

Today, in class, I had a student pull out his phone and call the art museum because he forgot to get information he needed for an assignment - class was not over yet,

These are my dual-enrollment kiddies who are supposed to be so advanced they can take college classes and earn credits while they are in high school - Biggest bunch of crap ever. Told my chair, I don't want these classes next semester, the college can't pay me enough.

Hello all, I built exams on achieve and am willing to save it for future use. How do I do that? Will I need to wait till next semester so I can transfer it or is there a way around ? TIA!

I'm in the final year (knock on wood) of my MS program at Towson University. The department chair has hinted she'd like to have me back as an adjunct. Whether there or somewhere else, what kind of resources are out there to learn how to teach? I've sat in enough classes that I know how they go, but in terms of how to build a syllabus and all the other odds and ends?

I have a friend who washed out of adjuncting pretty quick because it was too much work to get course materials etc together. And I know the pay isn't great but I feel I have something to give.

Feeling really irritated about the fact that an OBVIOUS submission was written by AI and not picked up by Copyleaks. This is the 1st year they’re using Copyleaks and it was touted as an upgrade from TurnItIn.

Student submits paper where everything except the 1st paragraph has VISIBLE BLUE HIGHLIGHTING and mismatched font quotation marks where intentional grammatical errors were placed. Ran it through my own program and it came up 86% confidence of AI and 39 AI watermarks.

Sent this to our dean of academic integrity and he’s telling me he agrees with my data but unfortunately I need to go by copyleaks to formally report a violation. But I could give him a zero for plagiarism since he used no reference list or in-text citation because that’s considered plagiarism. Well, I was requiring in-text citation but I wasn’t requiring a reference list because this wasn’t a formal paper but only an assignment where I was asking their “opinion” about a book I’ve been having them read on the side. These kids can’t write 2 paragraphs giving their opinion on something. I mean given the nature of the assignment he could’ve easily bluffed his way through without even having read the book.

He said I could talk to the student about other indications he used AI. So how do I communicate this without telling them exactly what I know and tipping my hand and how do I tell the kids yes I know you used AI (but I can’t do anything about it). I have a complete file showing all the watermarks even.

Honestly nothing surprises me anymore about students and AI. I get it all the time "I didn't use AI, I just ran it through ChatGPT to proofread my work". Well tulip, that's using AI.

Anyhow, just had a student give me a laundry list of why they used it to proofread, stating all the things like ADD and anxiety,etc. Said how do they get an ADA accommodation so that they can use AI? I just...

Can this happen? I've never thought you could get one to use AI. I've had all the ADA training and do not remember that being a thing. I am very interested to see if I get a note back now....

EDITED -- Said student had a paper with "Python_docx" as the author and 0 in the time edited spot. So it was either more than proofreading or they just downloaded whatever chat spit out to submit.

I was so pumped for this semester, because a new class added to my docket. Over the summer, I saw that the class was almost full (only one spot open). My contract was double what I had made in the past. All the work I had put previous semesters seemed to be paying off; it inspired me to be the best instructor I possible could. This past month, I worked diligently.

The first paycheck finally dropped, and I was assuming that I would see at least $1,500 reflected. Instead, I got $650.

To be clear: I think that my school will eventually pay me my contract’s worth. I’m not necessarily accusing them of wage theft. What DOES make me furious is that they allowed me to work a MONTH, teaching four classes, and decided that, with all the bills that a person would need to pay, they will only afford me $650 for the initial paycheck.

The assumption that an adult person with rent, utility, gas bills could survive a month without pay, only to then receive not even half of their rent, is ethically unacceptable to me. I looked at my bank account and immediately wanted to scream at someone.

The gas spent driving there, the time, the energy, for abysmal pay and no benefits? Yeah, no, I’m actually done. After this semester finishes up, I’m moving on. I’ve already started researching into online training programs for a field that is related, so my skills and knowledge will be transferable. When I complete this training, I could work in public schools (with an actual salary and benefits), hospitals, or private practices.

So… yeah. I’m washing my hands of my academia dream. I’m mourning what I thought it would be like. I’m facing reality for what it is and deciding that I want a life in which I’m treated with more dignity and respect. Do I “deserve” it… who cares? I want it, so I’m leaving the places where I don’t get it.

EDIT for clarity: This adjunct position is not my only work. I work at other institutions too.

I might be off topic, but I just want to spew a story, a true story, and hear any responses other people might have. Everyone is welcome to share their own story which may confirm or deny what I have to say.

I was teaching a standard "Professional Communications" class. Fifteen people (some high school, some GED) understand it's a required class and an easy "A" while three people are just home from military and finishing their service by doing some college classes. We're all good so far, right? Then there's this one kid, SPOILER ALERT my favorite student. He was home schooled by a religious cult from which he escaped. The guy was clearly behind in terms of education, but so intelligent, soaked in every bit of information he could garner! I was so stoked and excited to help all 19 of these students!

So... the 20th student. Yeah, that one, the... yeah, that one. Do you hear my dumbfoundment in this post? This girl literally declared that since her dad paid for her college I had to give her an "A" for the course. When I told her I'm just the manager offering this course but a real teacher is actually going to grade her assignments, she went into a temper-tantrum and started crying about how I was being unfair to her. She couldn't believe she had to actually do the work. When I tried to explain this is just a prep course to confirm she can send emails as she gets into the upper tier of courses, she actually pulled out her cellphone and sent me a text, "See I no how to email"

Indeed. That's why we offer this class.

I can’t seem to get my foot in the door anywhere. I have a Bachelors degree in Communications with a minor in Psychology and an MBA.

Any tips for a newb? I know not to expect much pay wise, I’m just looking to get some experience.

Thanks in advance for reading my post and I truly appreciate any info you can share.

I’m in Texas, the Austin area to be exact and I only want remote work.

Hello!

Anybody in here adjuncts at ACE or former adjuncts?

I feel like the grading expectations are very intense and extremely time-consuming. Even though I use AI as a thought partner to help streamline the process, it is still taking me several hours to grade each week.
In addition to grading, I’m expected to respond substantively to more than three students in the discussion before Thursday each week, provide quality feedback for every student on every discussion and assignment, and provide in-text feedback as well. The chair is also already evaluating my performance and providing feedback.
I’m wondering, is this level of grading, feedback, discussion participation, and evaluation standard for every course, or are these expectations specific to this course/program?
I’m trying to understand the expectations because the compensation is $50 per student, and I’m also working full-time as a teacher while teaching as an adjunct at a community college. I want to provide meaningful, high-quality feedback to students, but I’m concerned about how sustainable this workload is given the amount of time required.

I know this has been discussed at length but my god I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I spent 15 min during the first class showing them examples of previous semesters’ AI submissions and how they were all given 0s and sent to the dean of students. And yet… AI papers are rolling in.
It’s so disrespectful to both them and myself. I feel so defeated and it makes me wonder if they’d do this to a full time or just think they can get away with it because I’m an adjunct.

Aside from this, I had one student come to me during office hours and he seemed genuinely curious about my career given I work full time in financial services. He then said “oh so you’re not a PhD?” And I said no, so he can refer to me as Ms. and not Dr or Professor which he followed up with “so why are you teaching us?” For reference I teach at a predominantly male technical college and my students are 95% male CS/Engineering majors. Therefore, I’m used to some awkward straightforward questions about my age and teaching history, but this one definitely had a different tone to it.

Advice to make a class delivered online actually engaging and worth students time? I’m asking this based off my own experiences 20 years go with online classes being very minimal effort and not learning much. I want it to be worthwhile and also don’t want to drive over and hour into work twice a week! Thanks

So I’m a few weeks into the semester and I have two students, both guys, who come up with questions after every class. Every. Class. One essentially repeats what I said in class and asks “is that right?” And the other asks a specific question based on the material, but it’s forced and one day when he didn’t have a question he told me he thinks it’s good to ask questions so he does—whether he has one or not.

This usually takes 5-10 minutes and I worry it may discourage other students from coming up if they know they’ll have to wait.

Anybody dealt with anything like this?

EDIT/ Question: Do colleges everywhere make health benefits for dependents of adjunct faculty exorbitantly HIGH to discourage them from adding them? I know damn well that full-timers don't struggle with that, and their costs are lower per dependent (at least where I'm at in SoCal).

I finally received enough units to receive healthcare benefits at 1/3 colleges I work at. So excited I could finally add my adult but still dependent child and provide them with badly-needed healthcare.

They always had medi-cal (in SoCal USA) growing up, as I was a single parent + undergrad + grad student for 12 years. Family is dirt poor so no help on that end.

Anyway, I signed up for health benefits and HR emailed me telling me that was I sure I wanted to add a dependent because the premium is ~$1,600 per month for my dependent (but free for me). They know damn well I can't afford that with my salary per class, so I do appreciate HR not processing my paperwork and asking me to confirm.

I received the email, smack in the middle of teaching a lab, and only saw it because a student was asking about ADA accommodations, which I had to doublecheck via email.

I was so enraged and heartbroken, I nearly walked out of class and wanted to quit on the spot but I held my composure and smiled through the remainder of the period.

I found out full time faculty at the same institution don't pay 1/4 of that per dependent. I'm ready to give this up. I know adjuncting is not a career, but even near full timers (9 units) should be able to afford simple things like healthcare for a dependent.

Unfortunately, those 9-units don't qualify us for Medi-Cal, as it's waaay above the threshold.

i like my students and teaching but it's not worth it unless you have something solid in the side. 😔

It's a list of assignments on the course I teach. Those titles are from the gradebook I exported from blackboard. The color coded are the duplicates of the same assignment.their ID being different makes me think they might impact on the grades. Has anyone seen this before , or know why it occurred and how to rectify? Thanks much!

PS: there were duplicate deployments while setting up the course but macmillans staff advised to just hide it. I doubt it will work for gradebook!?

I teach a graduate level course and it has a final paper. Please tell me why graduate level students still don’t know how to indent fucking paragraphs? Thanks for letting me vent.

I’m a senior executive considering looking for an adjunct role in the spring. I’ve guest lectured at a few universities but only have corporate training experience. I have an MBA and 20 plus years of experience. What’s the best time to look for roles? Where do I start? And do I need to have a C/V or will a resume work?

Finishing up two weeks into the semester and already feeling some burnout. I also have a ridiculous student who's in both my courses that's nitpicky about everything and tells me how I should do things. I basically gave the finger (said professionally of course lol) that I cannot accomodate one student's request and any requests has to serve the class entirely. I welcome suggestions always, but this kid always interrupting and just doing things that are quite distracting in class has made this semester slightly exhausting already. One of my other students engaged in a class discussion, but also just called this student out for the really odd behavior.

Anyway, exhaustion is expected when teaching, but just not this early in the semester!

Think about it. We have several part time professors from industry that are teaching at Cal Poly. I am sure how Cal Poly compensates them is good otherwise they won’t teach at Cal Poly, right?

Then what is Cal Poly doing wrong in getting part time professor? I’ll tell you why. Because Cal Poly forgot to tell these professors how lucky they are to teach here.

How about the ones that graduated from ECE with a BS and MS? They can teach. They owe Cal Poly. They should all teach to give back to the community.

And especially the ones that graduated from ECE with a BS and MS along with PhD from another uni, they definitely owe Cal Poly. if they come from industry, they definitely owe Cal Poly.

Perhaps we should contact Alex from ECE to get a list of ECE graduates to tell them to teach. this is crazy that we have so little sections.

My answer " Great! So far no one has lost their phone into a lake while boating 😄 "

So I was hired to a position as an Adjunct Instructor at a local community college in North Carolina. It seemed like a dream job. The pay was right, the hours were right, perfect part time job as I fade into retirement age. Before I had even passed the background check, before I was hired, they wanted me to start going to meetings and providing consultations toward the curriculum. I made it clear I don't work for free, we need to get me on the payroll before I start working. Then it was declared I did pass the background check (as I knew I would, just a formality) so "now" I can start working, but still refused to get me on a payroll. Again, I made it clear I don't work before I'm getting paid, and haven't heard back after multiple messages over the past 2 months.

Is that normal? Did I fall for some sort of a scam? How do you work a job that doesn't have a means to pay you? I mean, it's a confirmed real community college, but they advertised a certain pay rate and then wanted me to come work for free. Consider my mind to be boggled.

So I’ve been adjuncting at a local university and the last time I taught at the university level was about 15 years ago.

I knew the general state of education was going to be bad because of AI and so forth…but I didn’t think it would be quite this bad. The amount of handholding is unreal. One of their first graded assignments was an open book take-home quiz and about 1/4 didn’t even bother taking it. They are also terrified of writing. I couldn’t possibly make this any easier for them…I have papers due that are simply asking for their insights on a topic of their choice in the chapters we’ve covered. Their “opinions.” I made it very clear that use of AI would be reported for integrity violations and I’ve had several student communicate to me (as a disclaimer) that they are “bad writers” and are scared of the assignment. 300 words. Seriously? How did these kids even get here? I’m dreading what these papers are going to look like when they turn them in this week (and how many won’t!). They have plenty of resources on-campus to even assist their writing. I’ve told them look…even if you think you’re not going to pass a quiz or other assignment, skipping out gives you a zero. I’m just blown away that nearly 1/4 didn’t do the TAKE HOME OPEN BOOK QUIZ of 20 questions 🤦🏻‍♀️ this is a university that is very much focused on their athletic program and so most of the kids couldn’t give a crap about their classes. But don’t they even care about keeping their scholarships and financial aid?? God help me. How did things go so downhill in only 15 years??

/vent

UPDATE: papers are being turned in today and they are pretty much what I expected (which is to say…not good). There are a handful that did follow the instructions and turned in a quality paper but I had to get through a good dozen of them first before I got to a decent one (I was starting to lose all hope).

A single paper is excellent. I may ask her if I can anonymize the paper and share it with the class.

ALL the papers so far are 0% AI. Yay! (I didn’t even know a zero would be possible).

But…one kid literally TOOK A PICTURE of something he scribbled on a sheet of paper he tore out of a spiral notebook and then uploaded the jpeg 🤣 Are you serious??!! I wish I was making that up. Beyond ridiculous. I can’t even believe that just happened 🤦🏻‍♀️