Introductory Remarks:

Discussions and Announcements:

Lee Richardson opened the meeting by announcing that she had sent out a welcome letter to the university’s adjuncts. She accessed them through “all adjuncts” via Outlook.

Lee also announced that she had made arrangements for a library orientation for the adjuncts, but canceled it when none RSVPed to say he or she would be coming.

Next, Lee let it be known that the Adjunct Affairs Committee meeting schedule could be found on the Faculty Association’s web site.

Following this, the committee agreed to not meet in December. Additionally, the question of whether the meeting time of 12:15 on Tuesdays would continue to be convenient in the Spring semester (when the members’ teaching schedules would change from the current ones) was raised. Consideration of moving the meeting time was postponed until the members learned their Spring schedules.

Lastly, the committee discussed the proposal for appointing a faculty fellow for adjuncts. Discussion ensued concerning whether the stipend of $2,000 for the faculty fellow (mentioned in the original proposal) was intended to cover one semester or two. Nancy Levine raised the question of how to compensate a faculty fellow who would be expected to attend to the needs of the university’s many adjuncts. She maintained that there would have to be a reduction in fulltime duties in order to allow the person to perform the job well, or even adequately. In other words, she argued that a faculty fellow will need a course release in order to accomplish all of the things that he or she would be expected to do (serve as mentor, visit adjunct classes, evaluate and give feedback on teaching, write letters of recommendation based on classroom observations [especially in departments where this is not yet done], help adjuncts find conferences to go to and places to publish, serve as an advocate, etc.). The committee agreed that it should recommend that a course release accompany the position. A committee also reached consensus that one of its chief purposes should be to select the faculty fellow. Finally, the committee concurred that Lee Richardson should invite the new provost, Mark Workman, to our next meeting in order for it to make the case to him for creating the position of faculty fellow.

Adjournment: