Responsibilities & Job Descriptions for Adjunct Faculty

by Carol Poster, Demand Media

Adjunct faculty members at any school are best defined by what they are not, namely tenure-track faculty. In other words, adjuncts do not have permanent positions but are hired on a per-course or limited-term basis, without any guarantee of continuing employment. Although in some disciplines, such as medicine, adjuncts may be highly-paid and respected members of their profession, in most fields adjuncts are paid considerably less than tenure-stream faculty. The justification for this lies in the difference between adjunct and tenure-stream faculty responsibilities.

Research, Scholarship and Creativity

Research or scholarship constitutes about 40 percent of the specified workload of faculty at doctoral institutions, and a slightly lower proportion at undergraduate institutions or community colleges. This includes doing scholarly or applied research, and disseminating the results of research in the form of publications, presentations or creative performances or displays; such as staging plays or exhibiting paintings in galleries. Tenure-stream faculty are also expected to conduct service to their disciplines in the form of acting as referees for scholarly journals and conferences, serving on editorial boards, and acting as officers or committee members for professional associations. Although adjuncts in some fields may have significant research or creative expertise, these are not part of adjunct job descriptions or responsibilities.


Administration is not a typical part of adjunct duties, although increasingly, adjuncts are being hired to serve in certain limited non-teaching roles, such as student advising, or directing writing or learning centers. Adjuncts hired to teach individual courses do not have administrative responsibilities. Holders of important administrative posts with managerial authority over faculty are normally appointed from within tenure-stream ranks. For example, department chairs, program directors, deans and provosts normally hold tenured positions in academic departments and are appointed to administrative posts for a specific period, after which they are eligible to return to their regular faculty positions.

Shared Governance

The university, as a structured institution, was founded in medieval Europe. Its governance practices stem from early universities such as those in Paris, France; Bologna, Italy; and Oxford, England; being associations of teachers. Rather than having workers and managers as separate classes, universities engage in "shared governance," that is, all major decision making is done through faculty committees and voted on by either representative faculty senates or the faculty as a whole. Although trustees and professional administrators are increasingly responsible for management, the practice of shared governance still means that committee work is a significant part of a tenure-stream faculty. Because adjuncts are contract employees rather than permanent faculty, they rarely serve on committees, except ex officio, when such service is relevant to contractually-specified administrative duties.


The primary duty of adjuncts is teaching. This may include serving as graders, tutorial or discussion section leaders, laboratory assistants, tutors in writing or learning centers, or as course directors. As teachers, they may teach a fixed syllabus or be responsible for developing it, selecting texts, and ordering books and course kits. Teaching includes not only classroom contact hours, but also grading, office hours, preparation and, increasingly, digitally mediated learning; which can encompass answering student e-mails, maintaining course websites, managing online discussions or teaching blended or electronically-delivered courses.

About the Author


Photo Credits

  • Hemera Technologies/ Images
Suggest an Article Correction