Adjunct Information

PROSPECTIVE ADJUNCT FACULTY

Although the challenges of adjunct employment in higher education are many, adjuncting in psychology at MCC is a tremendously rewarding experience: our student population is demographically and educationally diverse, our introductory course is rigorous, and our department is as congenial as they come.

Qualifications

Adjunct faculty in the Psychology Department must have the same academic credentials as our full-time faculty: a minimum of a master's degree in psychology or in a related field (such as counseling, sociology, social work, etc.) that includes at least 30 graduate hours of coursework in psychology. When evaluating the number of graduate hours of coursework in psychology, we accept courses that are clearly represented in the traditional psychology curriculum (such as statistics or child development, generally courses with a psychology department prefix on transcripts); we do not accept courses related to psychology from outside the traditional curriculum (such as a practicum in counseling, typically those lacking a psychology department prefix on transcripts).

To Apply for an Adjunct Position

See the college's job postings web site. Adjunct positions in the department are usually posted beginning in October (for spring semester openings) and February (for fall semester openings), although they may be posted any time we recognize an impending staffing need.

Based on our staffing needs, we are primarily interested in adjunct faculty who are available during the daytime, Monday-Friday, 9:00am - 2:00pm, to teach introductory psychology, a survey course requiring a strong background in the traditional psychology curriculum. We also staff other courses with adjunct faculty, such as PSY 100, 108, 150, 201, 202, 212 (and with less frequency our other subjects), predominantly during weekdays, and we offer night and weekend courses, though with limited opportunities for new hires. Adjunct faculty are also needed for online courses and on occasion we hire individuals who are available only for online assignments.

Benefits and Limits of Adjunct Employment

By contract, adjuncts at MCC may teach no more than 10 contact hours each semester (in our department this typically translates to three courses; the exception is PSY 108, a 1-semester-hour course on APA Style.) Pay depends upon the individual's adjunct rank, which is determined by the Academic Vice President, after recommendation by our department, and is based on the individual's academic credentials and previous teaching experience. Adjuncts share a pooled office with other adjuncts, and are expected to hold at least one office hour each week for each course they teach (for PSY 101 this requirement is fulfilled by assisting in the Psychology Resource Center; for other courses it may occur before/after class). Adjuncts may have access to (limited) professional development funds through the department, an MCC email account, the library's online databases, all college facilities open to ID-card holders, and free parking on the Brighton and Downtown Campuses. There are no other contractual benefits.

Current Adjunct Faculty

Course Assignments

Adjunct scheduling is managed by the adjunct coordinator (currently, Pat Kress) along with the department chair (currently, Rebecca Horwitz) and online adjunct coordinator (currently, Beth Wilson). Courses that are not staffed by full-time faculty become available for adjunct assignments. Efforts are made to accommodate individual preferences, and adjuncts with seniority are generally given priority. The adjunct coordinator for the department also oversees the day-to-day mentoring and supervision of adjuncts.

Absences

In case of an absence, please notify the department chair as soon as possible, and coordinate with the chair before cancelling a class; we can often find another faculty member to cover your class so that it won't have to be cancelled. Note that the college does not permit non-MCC employees to fill in as substitutes in a class. Consult the Psychology Policy Manual (found in the M-drive; see below) for detail concerning pay issues related to absences.

Syllabi (Course Information Sheets) and Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

Before the beginning of each semester, the college distributes a document listing required syllabus components (such as course title, textbook information, contact information, CLOs, etc.) and learning center, emergency closing, and class cancellation text that are also required in syllabi. Beginning in 2021, the college has required use of a standardized Course Information Sheet that is pre-filled with many of the required components. If you are unsure about content related to your syllabus, please contact the adjunct coordinator. (The syllabus for PSY-101 is partially written by the department but requires individual section detail.) Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are descriptions of student achievement outcomes written by the department and approved by the college. All courses are required to pursue the goals set forth by these CLOs, although the specific learning objectives chosen to follow CLO goals are generally at the discretion of the instructor.

The "M-Drive"

Adjuncts in the department have access to the department's password-restricted files on the M-drive, such as the department's policy manual (with detail concerning adjunct rank, pay, promotion, and other topics), or the Psychology Learning Center sub-folder and its repository for teaching supplements for PSY-101. Adjuncts also have access to the semi-public "Courses" folder, where some faculty place files for student access.

To get to the M-drive from on campus, log into any college computer; they all have a "Courses" folder icon on the desktop that you can use as a starting point. Opening this folder takes you directly into the subfolders for the semi-public department repositories accessible by students. Find the PSY folder and you may create a folder for yourself there to place items you might want students to access. Accessing the department's private folder is more complicated, so contact the adjunct coordinator for information.

Students sometimes have a hard time accessing the Courses folder from off campus. Brightspace, MCC's course management system, is a better option for class material storage.The Virtual Campus team provides faculty training and support. Learn more about Brightspace.

When working remotely, please refer to Technology Service's Tech Tips page for information about accessing MCC systems.