19: Making Adjunct Faculty Part of the Academic Community

Hundreds of adjunct faculty in four-year colleges and universities teach over 45% of the courses, especially in the general education programs, but few institutions have chosen to construct adjunct faculty development programs that integrate these faculty into the instructional community. Metropolitan State College of Denver, recipient of a Title HI grant to build an adjunct development program received a TIA-CREF Hesburgh Award of Excellence in 2001 for its innovative adjunct support activities. This chapter articulates the features of this successful program and its effect on the adjunct faculty cohort at the college.