In March 2015, a task force was convened to identify issues of concern to adjunct faculty members and to make recommendations on potential remedies. The results of a comprehensive survey of 1000 adjunct faculty were presented in May of 2016.
Mason is fortunate to enhance our academic community by leveraging the proficiency of our regional knowledge base as adjunct faculty who provide rich, relevant learning experiences for our students.
Adjunct faculty offer professional expertise that is outside of the experience of most fulltime faculty members, and provide students with examples from their profession, which helps build practical connections between the subject matter and their chosen careers. Support for Mason’s adjunct faculty is essential for facilitating their success as instructors, and in turn, the learning and development of their students.
New Adjunct Faculty Success Workshop
Workshops for new adjunct faculty are held approximately one week before classes begin for the semester each January and August. Register now for August orientation through Faculty Resources.
Your academic unit will work with the Office of the Provost to set up the administrative details of your faculty appointment. Information about adjunct faculty appointments, including faculty salary minimums, submission of transcripts, and offer letters are all available.
Adjunct Faculty Committee
The Adjunct Faculty Committee is charged with engaging the adjunct community in identifying needs, with making recommendations for improving areas of importance, and with being responsive to requests from the Provost. The committee is also charged with making an annual report on progress towards goals to the Provost. University offices will be asked to provide information to the committee to enable this assessment.
Committee Roster
| Name | Department | |
|---|---|---|
| Cathy Tompkins (co-chair) | College of Public Health | ctompkin |
| Carolyn Wilson (co-chair) | College of Engineering and Computing | cwilso44 |
| Auzzie Brown | School of Business, IT/Cybersecurity | abrown |
| Pamela Creed | Carter School | pcreed |
| Kim Eby | Provost Office, Faculty Affairs and Development | keby1 |
| Savannah Fetterolf | CHSS/Honors College | sfettero |
| Jessica Harley | College of Public Health | jharley6 |
| Kristi Horton | College of Engineering and Computing | khorton3 |
| Lawrence Leiser | CHSS, Criminology, Law, and Society | llawrenc |
| Michelle Lim | Human Resources and Payroll | mlim1 |
| Reggie Meneses | College of Education and Human Development | rmeneses |
| William Porter | Dewberry School of Music | wporter |
The work of Mason’s adjunct faculty is essential to providing a high-quality education for our students and complementing the fulltime faculty role. We honor this significant contribution through the annual Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards.
Adjunct Faculty Evaluation
Mason values the contributions of adjunct faculty as a key component of meeting our mission of supporting student success. Each College or School has established their own evaluation process for adjunct faculty members. It is expected that the adjunct faculty evaluation process be constructive and collegial while also including opportunities for collaborative discourse with the leadership of their academic program.
Objectives of Adjunct Faculty Evaluation
We are committed to providing our adjunct faculty opportunities to grow and evolve in their teaching. This is accomplished through providing robust professional development opportunities through our New Adjunct Faculty Success Workshop, through invitations to participate in events organized and hosted by the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, and by assuring the evaluation of adjunct faculty members as part of the university’s procedures for the assessment of its instructional faculty.
The purpose of the evaluation process for adjunct faculty is to assure excellence in teaching and adherence to academic and professional standards. Moreover, Mason’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), requires that the university publish and implement policies pertaining to the evaluation of all faculty members, including adjunct faculty. Generally speaking, feedback and performance review are the responsibility of the academic unit leadership and adjunct faculty are encouraged to talk with their Local Academic Unit head or chair for the adjunct faculty evaluation policy specific to their unit.
Please see Mason’s Evaluation of Adjunct Faculty policy (University Policy 3012) for additional information, especially the Procedures and Expectations for Evaluation of Adjunct Faculty, which were informed by the Adjunct Faculty Committee.