Faculty panel answers adjunct questions

Three full-time VCU professors
dispensed advice and anecdotes to
adjuncts this past Thursday night in
Oliver Hall.

Before taking questions from the
audience, professors Scott Sherman,
Jill Hardin and Anthony Mallon told
the audience of 21 about how they
came to be full-time professors after
working as adjuncts for a time.

The forum – the first in a series by
the Adjunct Faculty Learning Community
of the Center for Teaching
Excellence – follows the series’ design
to help adjunct professors adapt their
teaching methods.

“We are all looking for ways to
improve our teaching,” said Meriah
Crawford, an English adjunct professor
who organized the forum.

Other professors at the forum
echoed Crawford, consistently stating
improvement of teaching styles as
their reason behind applying to work
at VCU.

“Unlike at, say, University of
Michigan – where you only taught two
classes and did research – at VCU, you
teach more classes and are an adviser
and liaison as well,” Mallon said.

Mallon, who teaches in the VCU
School of Social Work, noted the
importance of fitting in with the
faculty members at the school, and
both Hardin and Sherman agreed.

“You work on a year-to-year
contract at a school,” Hardin said. “It
isn’t like Starbucks where if you don’t
like the job or who you are working
with, you can quit at anytime.”

Hardin, who teaches in the statistical-
science department, also gave
insight into the interview process when
applying to be a tenured professor at
a university. As Hardin described it,
the interview itself could be one to two
days, depending on the university.

The interview process involves
talking to as many people in the
academic department as possible, and
there is very little time in the entire
process to relax.

“The most frustrating thing for
me was that, at every single meal, I
ate with someone from the academic
department,” Hardin said.
Sherman’s experience in getting
hired was unique in that he started
in the professional world. Sherman
worked in an advertising firm in Richmond
before transitioning to work as
an adjunct-faculty member in the VCU
School of Mass Communications.

A spot for a full-time tenured track
opened up, and Sherman said he
jumped at the opportunity. He was
surprised, though, at what they looked
for in the interview process.

“I had my portfolio of work ready
the entire time during the interview,
but they just asked about my teaching
and research instead,” Sherman said.
Sherman, as an adjunct professor,
also helped his stature in the department
by teaching as a substitute and
going to as many events the department
held to raise his profile.

Sherman, Mallon and Hardin all emphasized
their love of teaching behind
why they are at VCU, even if the money
wasn’t as stellar as they planned.

“I could make more money in
the corporate world, but I just love
teaching,” Crawford said.