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WHAT IS AN ADJUNCT?
 
Adjuncts, also called "part-time" faculty and staff, teach most of the
courses at the City University of New York. They are usually hired on a semester-by-semester basis to teach one or two courses at individual colleges. 

Like full-time faculty, many adjuncts have doctorates and many have years of experience in the field in which they are teaching or in a related field. They also may be artists, writers, musicians, business people, practicing psychologists, sociologists, nurses, graduate students and teachers at other institutions. Some choose to work part-time. Others would prefer to work full-time but cannot find a full-time college teaching job because nationally colleges are offering few full-time teaching jobs.  

Across the nation, colleges and universities have become dependent upon part-time faculty and graduate-teaching assistants. CUNY is no exception. According to the CUNY Office of Faculty and Staff Relations, the University employed 5,594 full-time faculty (including visiting professors and substitutes) and 7,342 adjuncts in 1999. 

Depending on rank and experience, adjuncts are paid approximately 30-40% less per teaching hour and get fewer health and retirement benefits than full-time faculty. By hiring people to whom the college has no continuing commitment, the administration has more flexibility to add classes at the last minute at the start of the semester and to cut courses in the spring when enrollment usually drops. 
HOW DO THE WORKING CONDITIONS OF ADJUNCTS AFFECT STUDENTS? 

Unlike full-time faculty, adjuncts are not required to hold office hours or assist in
advisement and registration. Those who do hold office hours are volunteering their time because they feel a responsibility to students. Others, who feel equally responsible, do not have the time to meet with students because they have to get ready for a second or third job.  

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?

Full-time and part-time faculty, staff and students and members of the
community are uniting to: 

1.      Address the need for more full-time faculty AND seek better pay, benefits and working conditions for adjuncts.

2.      Support PSC’s proposed budget for CUNY and its steps toward parity for adjuncts.

3.      Seek specific legislation that will guarantee adjuncts disability and unemployment.