Adjunct Law Prof Blog

Full Time Adjuncts

On June 17, 2008 Inside Higher Education ran an interesting story entitled Waiting 20 Years for the Tenure Track. It is not about law school adjuncts, but about college adjuncts. The article discusses how difficult it is to get a full time college appointment and how it took the author of the article 20 years to land such an appointment. The author also describes her experiences where a number of colleges treated her unfairly because she did not have tenure.  The author essentially served as a full time adjunct by teaching part time in various schools. However, she was not considered to be part of the full time faculty of any one school. The article states in part:

And then there are the classes we lose every year because of cancellations. Sometimes they are canceled because they have low enrollment. Other times, my class would be fine but a full-timer’s class would be canceled and I would be bumped so he or she could have a full load.

The insecurity is the worst thing about being a part-timer, but there are other things that make life difficult. Typically, I teach a double load in the fall (six classes) because I know I won’t have classes for the summer. During the spring I have to hustle to get four classes, and during the summer I apply for unemployment. Some years, things go smoothly, other years I have to fight to get it.

After 20 years of experience, my income fluctuated between $33,000 and $40,000 a year, depending on whether I had classes canceled for low-enrollment (which would cost me about $3,000) or if I were able to get summer classes. Most of the time, my income was on the lower end.

This article demonstrates that Adjuncts are employees like everyone else. We need the same thing as other employees need. Good working conditions, benefits and of course, a good salary. Unfortunately, as this article demonstrates, this does not always occur.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Hat Tip: Joe Hodnicki, Law Librarian Blog

ABA Adjunct Faculty Handbook

Adjunct Faculty Handbook

In 2005, the ABA published an Adjunct Faculty Handbook that was largely written by Dean Gail Richmond (Nova Southwestern) as well as several other faculty members. The name is a bit misleading because it appears to be a handbook designed for law schools as opposed to adjunct faculty. It covers such things as administration and human resource issues, access to the law library, access to photocopiers, the need to provide adjuncts with certain academic information such as the name of publishers, classroom policies, faculty evaluations, student evaluations, exams, curves, etc.

At St. John's, I was given a copy of this Handbook, a Handbook designed for Adjunct faculty, a Student Handbook and a library handout which I have found very helpful. At New York Law School, I have never been given a copy of any handbooks other than the Student Handbook. However, New York Law School puts on training programs for Adjunct faculty about twice a year which I have found to be excellent. 

Adjuncts may find the ABA Faculty Handbook of interest.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

 

Information For College Adjuncts

College Adjuncts might be interested in www.adjunctcentral.com and www.adjunctprofessoronline.com

The later cite has some interesting postings about college adjunct salaries and faculty unions.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

2d Review Of Adjunct Impact-Law Professors Should Stay Away and College Profs Should Exercise Caution If They Use It

On January 16, 2008, I reviewed Adjunct Impact. That review is available here. The co-developer of the program e-mailed me and asked me to review the program again, which I agreed to do. She also left a comment on my Jan. 16th posting which I published.

Sorry, my opinion about the program's utility has not changed and I frankly now have a distaste for it. I would recommend that college adjuncts exercise caution if they want to use this program. Why is that? What is not obvious from the program is that an administrator at the college can review the adjunct's use of the program. In an email to me from the co-developer, for example, she was able to tell me what portions of her program I looked at and which portions I did not open. In her email to me she states:

  In another email I will show you how we can monitor the progress of adjuncts for assessment and accountability for institutional quality.  As a ed lawyer you know the risk management liabilities of adjuncts.  Boy can I tell you stories!!!!

No, boy can I tell you stories about teacher being abused by administrations. The last thing that we adjuncts need is a bean counter trying to review our performance. By and large we support the university, are underpaid and teach out of the love of teaching or a desire to give back. We each have our own styles and if an administrator wants to review our performance, let them come to class, speak with our students and review the student reviews. 

Now I know that most administrators are fair, but I also know that politics runs wild at some colleges. I am just not comfortable with Big Brother watching.

If the goal is to develop a program designed to truly enhance a professors ability to educate, I believe that the developer should consider dropping the bean counter nature of the program and open it up to all faculty members. Adjunct faculty members should have the same access to resources as full-timers.

Now, in fairness I am a union lawyer who regularly represents K-12 teachers in disciplinary matters and who has also represented faculty members and local unions in community colleges and pubic universities. Therefore, I may be a bit more sensitive to an administrator having the ability to look over an adjunct shoulder than most.

I also have not taught on the college level in 20 years and never taught on the community college level. Therefore, if you have any interest in this program I would encourage you to take your own look at the program (registration is currently free) and make up your own mind.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein          

Adjunct Impact-For Law Professors Not Worth It

I just took a look at Adjunct Impact (free trial available). I do not believe that it is a useful tool for most law professors, but some Adjuncts at smaller colleges may find it somewhat useful. Basically, Adjunct Impact is a program which allows classwork to be continued and supplemented online. It includes items such as a syllabus builder, a message board and a lounge where students and the professor can converse with each other.

However, both TWEN and LEXIS already do a much better job in providing the same type of online course work. Each of those programs also have the ability to link to statutes and cases that might be discussed in class. I believe all law schools have access to TWEN and Lexis so I see no use for this program on the law school level. The additional information provided, such as a checklist for the first day of class which includes the class roster are so obvious that they contribute nothing.

However, I recognize that all colleges-particular small community colleges-may not utilize TWEN or Lexis's Blackboard program. For those few colleges, this program may be worth it. As any professor who has used TWEN can tell you, communicating online has changed the way education is practiced.

I am not sure why the program is called Adjunct Impact because it seems to me that the program would be useful to full time community college professors as well if they do not access to a similar program.

An article about this program that ran in Insider Higher Education is available here.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

New Web Site For College Adjuncts

AdjunctImpact.com is a new resourse for adjuncts. Betsey Price describes this web site has follows in a letter she sent to me.

AdjunctImpact, the Adjunct Support Site from bcpLearning.com, will be made free for adjuncts for a limited time.

Visit AdjunctImpact for a preview and advanced updates of the features. Here’s what’s available:

•    Syllabus builder
•    Lesson plan builder
•    Adjunct Faculty support services and how to access them
•    Tips on a successful first day
•    How to help students with support services

Also, read Betsy’s Blog with teaching tips, alerts to upcoming deadlines, and an open forum/discussion area for adjunct faculty.

AdjunctImpact is valuable for your new and veteran adjuncts, and it also can be helpful for faculty and adjunct faculty candidates. Adjuncts who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion.

It was fairly easy to set up the free account. Unfortunately, I was unable to log in. I have e-mailed Betsey and we will see. I will then review this web site.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Adjunct Law Professor Requires Students To Participate On His Blog

Barry Law School Professor Marc John Randazza states on his class syllabus that is posted on his blog/web page:

Overall Participation will be 10 points (out of 100) for class participation and 10 points for blog participation. Exceptional participation in either department can make up for some a deficiency in the other. So, if you are a “quiet person,” you may want to hit the blog pretty effectively.

This raises some important issues. Is posting on a blog the same as class participation? Will students compete with each other for the most blog postings? Should we encourage this? Is the professor simply trying to increase his traffic? What if students do not have access to the internet?

Any comments or thoughts?

Please post once as typepad holds posts for approval.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

_________________

UPDATE: Jan. 7, 2008

I neglected to post a link to Professor Randazza's blog so here it is http://randazza.wordpress.com/category/law-practice/

I have not been able to distinguish between the professors in class blog and his own blog, but I do take Professor Randazza at his word that he maintains a separate class blog.

The first commentator read the purpose of my posting totally wrong. I actually commend Prof. Randazza for using his blog for academic purposes. Simply because a Prof. raises a question, does not indicate that they disagree. After all, thats what we Profs do.

Last week, I went to several presentations at the AALS conference on the use of blogs by law professors. The academy is somewhat suspect about their use-I'm not. I just wish I had more time to prepare a blog like this professor does.
Mitch Rubinstein   

Adjuncts I Want To Hear From You!! Guest Bloggers Wanted!

As regularly readers of this blog know, I try to regular cover labor law, employment law, arbitration and education law issues. However, I look for stories about Adjunct and about Adjunct Employment. I would like to hear from some Adjuncts about what they like or dislike about their jobs, about advice they may have for others interested in becoming and an Adjunct etc. If you e-mail me your story, I will post it under your byline as a Guest Blogger.

You could also provide me with a spotlight about yourself which would include a snap shout of your professional career as well as your teaching career. If your interested in writing a substantive story on your area of expertise as a Guest Blogger, I am open to that as well. Please send me an email at professorrubinstein@gmail.com

Mitchell H. Rubinstein   

   

Full Time Adjuncts

The November 20, 2007 New York Times has an interesting article entitled "Decline of the Tenure Track Raises Concerns" by Alan Finder which is about the increasing use of adjuncts in our nations colleges and universities. The article highlights one professor who teaches 6 classes at four different institutions. The article points to the fact that three decades ago adjuncts and part time profs accounted for about 43% of the faculty. Now that number is closer to 70%. Some researchers believe that this has effected academic quality. As the article states:

  Really, we are offering less educational quality to the students who need it most,” said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, noting that the soaring number of adjunct faculty is most pronounced in community colleges and the less select public universities. The elite universities, both public and private, have the fewest adjuncts.

“It’s not that some of these adjuncts aren’t great teachers,” Dr. Ehrenberg said. “Many don’t have the support that the tenure-track faculty have, in terms of offices, secretarial help and time. Their teaching loads are higher, and they have less time to focus on students.”

Dr. Ehrenberg and a colleague analyzed 15 years of national data and found that graduation rates declined when public universities hired large numbers of contingent faculty.

This leads to the obivous question about the role of adjuncts in law schools. What should our roles be? Anyone have any ideas. My belief is that a law school needs a mix of adjuncts and full time profs. However, I also believe that our role is not fully appreciated. Think back at your law schoo days. Some of your best classes were probably taught by adjuncts. They had interesting war stories and practicial advise and may have even helped you find a job. That type of experience is invaluable. On the other hand, there is a need for scholarship to support the university and a need for faculty to always be there for the students. There is also a need for the full timer to be involved in the management of the school. In my opinion, that is the role of the full timer.   What do you think?

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Lets Here It For Adjunct Law Profs!

Prof. Snyder over at ContractsProf Blog has an enlightening posting the role of Adjuncts in law schools. He states that no law school could get by without us and says some very nice things about this Blog. I promise I did not put Professor Snyder up to this! I am delighted to post his following comments:

They’re in touch with the latest developments in law and practice. They’re dedicated to teaching and mentoring lawyers. They get very little money and less respect, but they routinely get high ratings from the students who sit in their classes.

Who are they?  Adjuncts, of course.  No law school can get by without them, and schools often tout their skills to students, who for some reason tend to like to take classes from those who are actually practicing what they teach.  Yet they are all-but-invisible outside their own classrooms, and many tenure-track faculty have no idea who they are when they pass in the halls.

It takes a special kind of person to do that kind of work, and part of the ever-growing Law Professor Blogs Network empire is Adjunct Law Blog.  The lead editor is veteran adjunct Mitch Rubinstein (St. John’s & New York LS), who’s also Senior Counsel to the New York State United Teachers.  His co-editors are full-timers Eric Lustig (New England) and Gail Levin Richmond (Nova Southeastern).

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Listserv For Adjunct Law Professors Maintained By ABA

The ABA maintains a listserv for adjunct law professors which is available here. If your an Adjunct, please consider signing up. There are very few emails-too few as a matter of fact. I encourage Adjuncts to post questions and comments.

Adjuncts of the world, also do not forget Adjunct Prof Blog. I encourage you to post your questions and comments. Additionally, if you have something that you would like me to post, please send me an email. 

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

CLE Credit For Adjunct Teaching

To my pleasant surprise Adjuncts are eligible for CLE credit, at least in New York. Section 3(d)(6) of The CLE Board Regulations for the State of New York provides:

— Credit may be earned for teaching law courses at anABA-accredited law school. One (1) CLE credit hour is awarded for each 50 minutes of instruction. No additional credit may be earned for preparation time. The ABA-accredited law school is responsible for issuing appropriate certification to the instructor documenting the name of attorney, name, date and location of course, breakdown of categories of credit and the number of New York CLE credit hours earned.

A copy of the New York's full regulation is available here Download cleregulations.pdf

This is a nice side benefit of Adjunct teaching that all Adjuncts should be aware of.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

PA Elder, Estate and Fiduciary Law Blog and Health Care Decision Making Wiki Run By An Adjunct Law Prof.

Widener Adjunct Professor  Neil Hendershot writes to inform us of his blog entitled "PA Elder, Estate and Fiduciary Law Blog." What is interesting about it is that Neil uses it as a teaching tool. As Neil explained to me:

One year ago, at the start of class, I began a blog for the benefit of the students.  I continued it beyond that semester.  Now I am teaching Elder Law to a new class.  I invited students to submit entries to me for posting (after editing).  We also refer to it during class.

Right now there is a timely article about HIPAA. Check it out.

Neil also started a "wiki" in January 2007, to teach lawyers about PA's new Health Care Directives law, Chapter 54 of Title 20 of PA Cons. Stats. See PA Healthcare DecisionMaking. There is a wealth of information about end of life decision making on that web site that should be very useful to attorneys and researchers.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Increase Use of Adjuncts At Community Colleges

The Courier News Online has an article entitled Central Jersey Community Colleges See Rise In Adjuncts, which as the title implies is about the increasing use of adjuncts in community colleges. The numbers of adjuncts used at community colleges is astonishing. As the article states:

At Central Jersey community colleges, 74 percent of the faculty at Raritan Valley Community College in the North Branch section of Branchburg are adjunct professors; 70 percent are adjunct professors at Middlesex County College in Edison; and 59 percent are adjunct professors at Union County College in Cranford.

"There are large numbers of part-time faculty at all three colleges, which is unfortunately quite common for community colleges nationwide," Curtis said, noting the national average for community colleges in fall 2005 was 66 percent of all faculty employed part-time -- another word for adjuncts.

While I do not know the exact numbers, I believe a trend exists in our nation's law schools to increase the number of adjuncts. While I am all for adjunct employment, a law school and a good college needs a core group of full-time faculty who will be there for the students. If a school employs too many adjuncts, that says something about the school. Faculty shape the school. Committee and curriculum work is important.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Resources For College Adjunct Professors

I recently came across several web sites and blogs that would be of interest to individuals seeking to become an adjunct professor on the college level. Listed below is a blog as well as several sites that may be helpful in finding an adjunct professor position. The blog/web sites are as follows:

http://adjunctprofessoronline.com/ (described as a resource for adjuncts)

http://adjunctprofessoring.blogspot.com/ (blog about being a college adjunct)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/highered/ (higher education blog)

http://www.eduwonk.com/ (education news)

http://www.insidehighered.com/ (education news)

http://chronicle.com/ (higher education news)

http://www.adjunctnation.com/ (web site)

http://www.adjunctopia.com/ (adjunct job listings)

http://burntoutadjunct.blogspot.com/ (adjunct's personal blog)

http://www.higheredjobs.com/ (web site listing jobs in higher education)

If you know of any other resources for college adjuncts or law school adjuncts, please let me know and I will be happy to post it.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein 

Spot Light On Adjuncts

Dean Paul Caron over at Tax Prof Blog spot lights a tax professor each week. A sample of a spot light is available here.  I would like to follow in his footsteps and spotlight an adjunct law professor-that is if there is any interest.

There is one catch. You need to write the spotlight yourself (about 1/2 page to 3/4 page) and send it to me at professorrubinstein@gmail.com. So here is your chance to get known in cyberspace.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein   

Adjunct Law Faculty Professor Faculty Resources

Hofstra University School of Law maintains a web site of Adjunct Faculty Resources that is available here.

Some of the resources listed include sample syllabi for several different classes, sample exams, a  Syllabus Template in MS Word, and a listing of web resources (which I am glad to see includes a link to Adjunct Law Prof Blog). Other links include teachings resources from other law schools.

While there are also a number of items posted that are unique to Hofstra Law, much of this material should be helpful to any Adjunct Law Professor. Check it out.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein   

Adjunct Law Professor Listserv

The ABA maintains an Adjunct Law Professor Listserv which I just found out about and joined. Please join it here. In addition to this blog, this is a wonderful way for us Adjuncts to share our thoughts and ideas.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Adjunct and Employee Vulnerability

Professor Paul Secunda over at Work Place Prof Blog, a blog I recommend that you check daily, is running a story about an article from Inside Higher Education about a college adjunct professor who attempted to raised money for fellow adjunct professors because they did not have health insurance and about what reportedly followed. This adjunct is now out of a job because the college apparently perceived this fund raising event as negative publicity.

As regular readers of this blog know, my day job is an attorney for a teacher's union. This case demonstrates how important tenure is in the field of education. Tenure does not guarantee life time employment. All it guarantees is that employee's cannot be disciplined without just cause.

Additionally, even outside the area of education law, most employees in this country are without any protection from arbitrary discharge by virtue of the employment-at-will doctrine. The sad part of all of this is that most employees do not even realize just how little protection they generally have. There are, of course, some exceptions-such as unionized employees and employees who have employment contracts or legally binding contractual handbooks-but the exceptions are few and far between.

Nightmares happen. Just read this article.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

 

 

Tips on Becomming An Adjunct

I recently came across Professor Eric Goldman's blog and his 2005 posting entitled Lander on Adjunct Teaching which is a good primer for someone considering adjunct teaching. He reviews a 2005 article by David Lander that originally appeared in Business Law Today and now appears on the ABA web site. Goldman's posting as well as the article on the ABA web site is about adjunct law teaching.

Based on my 3 years of being employed as an adjunct, I second what they have to say. Its alot more work than you think and the pay is very low. It unquestionably adds resume value to your background and help attorneys get clients. Frankly, I believe that is why many lawyers work as adjuncts. However, few adjuncts will admit this.

However, most adjuncts unquestionably do it out of the love of teaching. As for me, I am doing it because I love to teach and despite what Professor Goldman and others advise, I still think it may help me land a full-time teaching position one day. Stay tuned and I will let you know if I am able to land that FT position when I go on the market in about 3 years. However, even if I never land that FT gig, I believe being an adjunct has made me a better lawyer and it gave me the opportunity to lend a hand to some very bright students.

I have also gotten to know some very well known professors and have been to conferences that I would have never gone to as a lawyer. Two weeks ago, for example, I got to meet two current NLRB members as well as several former Board members. For a labor lawyer like me, thats a big deal.   

I just wish I had more time to teach and to prepare. It is very difficult to coordinate teaching and practice-particularly if your a litigator. Obviously, you cannot always control your litigation schedule, but if your teaching you must make yourself available for class.  If your really dedicated as I am, your teaching schedule will take priority over your practice schedule. 

Mitchell H. Rubinstein