How Are Adjunct Teaching Positions Paid?
Increasing numbers of colleges and universities are trying to save money by cutting their full time, tenured teaching positions and filling their teaching needs with adjunct faculty. It works because adjunct faculty receive lower salary and no benefits, and therefore cost the universities less. If you are interested in becoming adjunct faculty, you should know a little bit about how adjuncts are paid.
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It's Different from Full Time
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Adjunct faculty are different from full-time faculty. They have different responsibilities and are given different class loads. Their pay scale and schedules are different, too. If the full-time teacher in the classroom next to you has already been paid this month, and you haven't, it's probably not an error. You're just not on the same payroll cycle as full-time faculty.
The Pay is Lower
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One way that schools save money hiring part-time teachers is that their pay-per-class is lower. Of course, full-time teachers are also advising and sitting on committees, and adjuncts don't have to do those things. Adjuncts have less responsibility, and therefore lower pay.
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Paychecks are Less Regular
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While full-time salaried faculty get paid 12 months a year, adjuncts only get paid for the months in which they teach. There's also a delay after the start of the semester -- meaning that you'll often get paid in September and February, but not during the months when classes start, August and January. And if you don't have Summer classes, you don't get paid in the Summer.
Everyone Gets Paid the Same Way
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If your school mails out checks to faculty, they will mail them out to all faculty, both adjuncts and full time. If they prefer to do direct deposit, they'll ask everyone to do it that way.
Adjunct Pay is Capped
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Adjunct pay is limited in two ways. In most cases, all adjuncts get paid the same, no matter what their credentials or how long they've served the university, though occasionally long-serving adjuncts get paid slightly more. Also, adjuncts are limited in how many classes they can teach; in most cases, they can't teach more than three or four, unless they have special permission from the administration.
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