As adjuncts, we often have little time or contact with other folks in our department. While it is more likely that we will see our tenured colleagues — after all, they are paid to be there most of the time — some of the most useful and meaningful relationships we can cultivate are with other adjuncts. Unless you spend a lot of extra time on campus or have a large load, it is unlikely that you will have much contact with many of your part-time peers. If you are a go-getter, then you might meet some of your colleagues at department meetings. Aside from hallway quick-chats, there’s rarely time, space, or resources allocated to adjuncts to mentor, support, or help one another.

Professionally, I am not sure that I want an institution to determine the nature of my relationships with my colleagues. I prefer to locate persons I want to talk to, share with, and learn from and move on from there. If we were tenured, we would see our colleagues more, and the socialization and professionalization process would occur naturally. Instead, we must go out of our way in order to create situations where we can socialize with our peers. When done well, they can be very useful. And, meeting colleagues and knowing peers are essential to mental and professional health.

Having a few pints of beer or cups of coffee with a colleague does wonders for my mental health. Usually I learn that my colleagues are having or have had worse students/situations than I have. This does not mean that I take pleasure in their pain. Instead, it shows me that even though I thought I had it bad, it was not as bad as it could have been. Their experiences often work to give me a more balanced perspective. In this same vein, I try to learn from other people’s bad experiences: what to do and not do — or say — in terms of handling students, administration, and so on. To be fair, I try and share what I have learned from my own experiences so that they can avoid my mistakes.

It is often in the midst of problem solving or commiserating that bonding takes place. The adjuncts I trust most are those who have not only helped me out by giving me great advice, but those people who have listened to me and then shared their own experiences. And then we kept our mouths shut. Once I know people have the ability to be discrete, and they choose to be discrete, I open up to them more than I do most. I not only trust them, I know that they are unlikely to cause problems for me professionally. Instead, they become an asset: someone I can talk to and engage with as a peer for reflection and consideration instead of a competitor for a low-paying position. Hopefully, I fill a similar role for them. A workplace can be much easier to handle when you know you can count on one or two key people.

At work — as in life — people like to talk. Much talk is harmless. A slipped confidence or intentional revelation can destroy a career. As adjuncts, we have no job security and that means we work at the whim of the department. Letting our lips flap a bit too much runs us the risk of losing work. As such, socializing with adjunct colleagues is a great way to learn who is and who is not discrete. The best way to tell who talks and who remains discrete is to watch and listen. The people I trust most do exactly the same thing. Once you establish confidence with a peer, it usually results in a more honest and open discussion of classes, workplaces, and so on.

Honest discussion helps me because it relieves tension, lets me know that I am not alone, and helps me determine if my perceptions are off base. Often, the discussions help me realize how skewed or off my observations may be — especially if I’ve not been around very long. This kind of feedback can be vital for understanding departmental decisions or unspoken tensions between personalities. Collegial chats help me get more centered before I risk making a gaffe.

Socializing with part-time peers is a great way to get a sense of the lay of the departmental land and who the personalities are in the department. This is a job, after all, and these are our co-workers. It’s essential to know what the people are like. Additionally, socializing is a good way to gather information and establish an intellectual and pedagogical safety net so that we do not feel lost, alone, or isolated.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Health & Welfare, Professional Development & Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.