College professors say that the state's higher education system is not employing enough full-time teachers. And some professors claim this has caused the full-time faculty to look down on their adjunct colleagues.
Faculty at the state's 17 colleges and universities are worried that the Board of Regents' proposed plan to hire more part-time professors is going to harm the quality of education for students.
"Certainly adjunct faculty are vital to the success of all our institutions," said sociology professor Stephen Adair, speaking onWNPR'sWhere We Live.
"Yet at the same time, we have become overly dependent on the number of courses and programs that have been taught by adjuncts," Adair said.
Adair teaches at Central Connecticut State University, and he also serves as the vice chairman of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents. He said the faculty's union has proposed plans to improve the quality of adjuncts, as well as giving them better pay.
But he said the Board of Regents' plan would mean fewer tenure-track professors. Adair said that faculty who have tenure are able to do more in their classrooms, like advise and mentor students, develop relationships, and help establish the culture of an academic department.
Kim Dorfman also teaches at CCSU -- as an adjunct English professor.
"The reason I'm an adjunct instead of a professor -- a regular professor -- is that there are no lines in my field open," Dorfman said. "And that's why many adjunct faculty are adjuncts rather than full-timers. It's not because we're inferior, or have less experience, or less education, in any way at all."
The Board of Regents has expressed optimism about working with faculty to repair relationships, in light of budget cuts and declining enrollment.
Labor negotiations between the faculty and the board remain ongoing.
