College and University administrators tend to exclude adjuncts from the heart of the university staff experience, and tenured faculty often are just as quick to make the part-timers feel like second-class citizens. One professor, James Obersen, ended his recent article in The Atlantic with these words: “I’m grateful to teach, to work, to earn money to feed myself. But this hand-to-mouth existence shouldn’t be the norm. The injustices suffered by adjuncts…ends up hurting students. That is the last thing institutional policy should impede. Under-supported adjuncts means under-engaged students.”
The analyses, decisions, and implementation of decisions on how to improve school operations must be done highly effectively and it must, first and foremost, be undertaken by the highest levels of school management up to the policy level in county, state, and federal governments. Administrators must continuously work to find solutions and provide strong support to enhance the welfare of students and faculty first. The last thing they should do is be the author of those problems.
It is not enough to just fund and put programs in place; they must be executed effectively and get results. When results fail, the administrators have failed. Social responsibility, which includes fairness to workers and offering a living wage, should be addressed by all organizations, including colleges and universities. Only then can true progress be made by establishing a human relations, legal, and ethical framework conducive to civility and improved standards of institutional behavior. Adjunct faculty members must be treated equitably, with fairness and respect as important members of an educational team serving students. Perhaps some profit-sacrificing for the sake of social responsibility and decency is the right thing for organization to do willingly for the benefit of society.
Management