Online Faculty Conference June 4-6, 2013

CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION1

Lagniappe: Adjunct Appreciation Efforts

Donna Nalley, PhDBeth Virtanen, PhD

Ashley Johnson, MFA

The Concept of “Giving More” to Our Adjuncts

Remember looking for the toy in the Cracker Jacks box or the comic wrapped around the Bazooka

Bubble Gum? Would you have eaten the Cracker Jacks or blown the bubbles even without the

surprise inside? Most likely, but it was great to have the something extra, wasn’t it?

Something Extra…

Lagniappe is a Creole word, derived from the Spanish lanapa, meaning gift.

Lagniappe can be a small gift, a nice surprise, something extra or free thrown in (as in a baker’s dozen), or an unexpected benefit. The idea of lagniappe means essentially to give more.

The Importance of Giving More

Why is giving more so important in working with our adjuncts?

• They are professionals who are not highly paid for their efforts.

• They are working without benefits or security.• For employment, they can choose among many schools.• We need to be cognizant of their needs and provide

them with support and something extra to show them we care and appreciate their efforts.

Examples of Giving More

• Faculty Development Presentations

• Pre-Session Support

• English Faculty Sharepoint

• Connections Pages

• Tech Newsletter

• Anonymous Surveys

Faculty Development Opportunities

The English Program has an Adjunct Relations Committee, which is tasked with providing extra support to our instructors.

One of the main focuses for the committee has been the implementation of a series of monthly adjunct presentations, which are now in their fourth year. Each topic is designed to speak to faculty’s needs and to allow the presenters to showcase their knowledge and research.

The Basics

• Send out a list of dates and potential topics

• Choose presenters after they submit a proposal and a draft of their PowerPoint

• Offer rotating weeknights (Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays) to accommodate schedules

• Award one hour of faculty development credit for all attendees

Sample Presentation Topics

• The First Incidence of Plagiarism as a Teaching Opportunity

• Got Social Presence? Reduce Distance and Create Community

• Encouraging Persistence: Keeping Students Without Lowering Standards

• Using Video and Audio in the Online Classroom

• Glog! Glog! Learning and Teaching Tools at Glogster.edu

• A New Lens: Teaching Fiction from the Perspective of the Artist

• What’s in your Dropbox? Turnitin.com• GradeMark: Making Your Mark• Speaking Our Students’ Language • How to Jing: A Hands-On Workshop

The Benefits

• The workshops build community and encourage communication among faculty.

• Adjuncts are able to showcase their abilities, writing, and research.

• Adjuncts feel they have a “voice” in the program and become better known to their colleagues.

• Colleagues from other fields attend, stimulating connections among programs.

• The presentations share resources and encourage the use of best practices.

• Attendees learn cutting-edge pedagogy.

• The meetings offer faculty development content and training hours to those attending.

Highlighting the talents and research interests of our adjunct faculty benefits everyone.

The Take Away

A key element of each presentation is the final take-away element.

Every faculty development presentation offers something practical that those attending the meeting are able to use immediately in their own classrooms. This has been the ultimate use of the concept of lagniappe with our adjunct instructors.

The Pre-Session Support Process: The Individual Pieces

• Welcome email

• The Virtual Voice

• Attached support information

The Welcome: 4 Purposes

• Prompts set-up

• Connects mentors and mentees

• Shares changes

• Reiterates expectations

Attachments

• Virtual Voice

• Best Practices

• More support

– OHE Faculty Development Opportunities

– Mandatory Academic Integrity reporting

Virtual Voice Contents

• Managers and their contact email

• Course Set Up requirements• Term dates: set-up, start, end,

final grades• Announcements (EX.

Asynchronous)• Questions and Answers• SharePoint resources/OHE

Resources• English Department Faculty

Development

Best Practices—Recent Examples

• Course set-up tips • GradeMark user’s manual,

set-up guide, and classroom announcement in jpeg

• Using detailed grading rubrics

• Developing rough & final draft comments

• Creating engaged discussion responses

The Results

• Remind faculty of lines of communication

• Prompt action of each member of the team

• Disseminate policy changes

• Share resources

• Encourage the use of best practices

• Facilitate faculty development

English Faculty Sharepoint: Opportunities to Share

• General Department Policies

• Ideas and Questions

• Our Courses

• New Faculty

• Resources

• Archives

Summary and Objectives

• Sharing, Connecting, Enhancing

• Remind faculty of lines of communication

• Prompt action of each member of the team

• Disseminate policy changes

• Share resources

• Encourage the use of best practices

• Facilitate faculty development

Course Home – General Policies

A place to…

Ideas and Qs – Best Practices

A place to…

Our Courses – Materials Clearinghouse

New Faculty – Setting Up Your Classroom

Guidance for new faculty

Resources

English Connections Pages: Opportunities to Connect

• English Connection Page• APA Style Resource Page• Grammar and Writing

Resource Page• Poets on Poetry: Practice

and Publication• Telling a Story: Literary

Non-Fiction• Writing the Great

American Novel

Summary and Objectives

Our English Department Connections pages allow us to connect with both students and faculty beyond the classroom.

Objectives:

• Extend the discussion beyond the classroom

• Connect by sharing “real world” experiences

• Offer resources

English Department Page

About This Department

Our mission is to assist in the academic preparation and success of South University students by offering excellent instruction and providing the knowledge and skills our students need to be successful in their fields of study.

This page includes the following:

• Descriptions and listings of current English courses

• English Department news• Faculty blogs

APA Style Resource Page

About This Department

Our mission is to assist students and faculty in finding information about everything APA. This page includes tips and videos to help students learn the style and formatting requirements of APA.

This page includes the following:

• Articles, files, and videos dealing with APA problems and solutions.

• Discussion forums where students, faculty, and staff can ask about the more subtle problems that sometimes arise when dealing with APA formatting and style.

Grammar & Writing Resource Page

About This Department

This forum provides discussions and resources about grammar, mechanics, and general writing guidelines for students and faculty.

This page includes the following:

• Articles, videos, and RSS feeds to assist students and faculty with grammar rules and academic writing skills

Creative Writing Pages

About These Organizations

These resource pages provide students and faculty designated spaces to discuss their writing, various creative writing techniques, and publication tips with other South students and instructors.

These pages include the following:

• Supplemental materials related to various creative writing genres

• Discussion boards to share writing, authors, books, etc.

• Videos and images of related writing materials

• Polls to see what South writers are thinking

Tech Newsletter: Opportunities to Enhance

Summary and Objectives

Introduce and discuss technological issues and developments relevant to the fulfillment of SUO’s mission and instructor success.

Objectives:

• Sharing, Connecting, Enhancing

Tech Newsletter

Tech Newsletter

Tech Newsletter