This report describes findings from a study of the Engaging Adjunct Faculty in the Student Success Movement project, a two-year initiative led by Achieving the Dream to develop and implement strategies to support adjunct faculty in improving student outcomes. Work in the project—guided by design principles related to classroom activities, professional development, employment policies, and the use of data—was led by teams of full- and part-time faculty and administrators at six participating community colleges. A key objective of the project was to generate information about promising, scalable, and sustainable engagement strategies that could be shared across the national network of Achieving the Dream colleges.
Using survey, interview, and student transcript data, CCRC documented a range of strategies that colleges designed to support and engage their adjunct faculty, examined how the strategies were implemented, and measured the effects of a set of selected activities on faculty and students. Drawing on implementation findings presented in this report, the authors offer four recommendations for colleges seeking to provide supports for part-time faculty:
- Ground decisions on adjunct faculty supports in local data on adjunct faculty needs.
- Embed adjunct faculty supports into existing institutional infrastructure and initiatives.
- Examine college policies and practices that impact the working lives of adjunct faculty.
- Consider intended outcomes for faculty engagement strategies and create a plan for measurement.
