On June 18, 2016, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Kennesaw State University hosted its inaugural Symposium for Part-Time, Adjunct, and Contingent Educators (SPACE) in Atlanta, Georgia. Ninety-nine attendees participated in this one-day conference, where more than 30 non-tenure-track faculty presented on a diverse spectrum of subjects, from teaching composition in a hybrid classroom to innovations in printmaking. A second SPACE is already planned for June 10, 2017.
I had the opportunity to present a workshop on developing multimedia learning materials on a budget, as well as attend some excellent presentations by contingent faculty scholars. In the welcome address, CETL faculty fellow and conference organizer Mandy McGrew emphasized the important role that this and similar conferences play in allowing contingent faculty the opportunity to engage with the academic community in a way that often doesn’t happen at more traditional conferences, where the majority of presenters are typically tenure-line.
What I appreciated most about SPACE was the chance to hear from contingent faculty about something other than our collective identity as contingents. While such discussions are valuable and must take place, contingent faculty are more than our employment status. We are scholars as well, often pursuing our research passions in our own time and on our own dime.
The keynote speech, Expanding the Scholarly Conversation on the New Faculty Majority and Contingent Faculty Work, was presented jointly by Lynee Lewis Gaillet of Georgia State University and Letizia Guglielmo of Kennesaw State University, tenure-line faculty and co-editors of Contingent Faculty Publishing in Community: Case Studies for Successful Collaboration. As part of their presentation, which emphasized the diversity of contingent experiences, the presenters played a number of audio recordings of contingent faculty sharing their stories.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion, Creating Spaces for Part-Time Faculty, featuring Mandy McGrew, as well as Roy Fuller, part-time faculty fellow at the University of Louisville’s Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning; Kamal Kakish, assistant dean of information technology and chair of the Part Time Faculty Committee at Georgia Gwinnett College; and Yvonne Wichman, founding president of the Kennesaw State University Part Time Faculty Council. The panel discussed initiatives on their campuses, including the establishment of part-time faculty fellows and faculty learning communities.
Overall, SPACE was informative and engaging, and I look forward to hopefully attending again next year.
