agree; however, the list they provide –
“. . . content expert, formal authority,
socializing agent, facilitator, role model,
experienced learner, resource consultant,
coach, and counselor” (29) – is extensive.
While most professors do, in fact, engage
in these various activities, this seems to
draw dangerously close to the one-stop
shopping model that brings with it an
unpleasant sense of entitlement and con-
sumer mentality that is problematic in the
classroom. The student is far better served
and grows more effectively to maturity as
a student and as a person if the professor
refrains from being all things at all times.
That being said, this is an outstanding
book; the information in The Course Syl-
labus is applicable to virtually any disci-
pline, including the study of religion and
religious studies. Ultimately, the supreme
value of the book lies in its ability to
launch the reader beyond one’s own sylla-
bus, to address elements in one’s own
teaching that are in need of reform or
retirement.
Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen
Pacific Lutheran University
Connecting Non Full-time Faculty to
Institutional Mission: A Guidebook for
College/University Administrators and
Faculty Developers. By Leora Baron-
Nixon. Sterling, Va., Stylus Publishing,
2007. x + 131 pages. ISBN 1-57922-
061-4. $24.95.
“It is unlikely that issues related to part-
time faculty will diminish or disappear in
the foreseeable future” (103). In her
parting thoughts, Leora Baron-Nixon suc-
cinctly summarizes the motive that drives
this valuable study. She explains that the
surge in non full-time faculty is the result
of a number of factors and that these
faculty members are permanent. Hence,
teaching and learning issues related to the
use of part-time faculty will be an ongoing
reality for colleges, universities, and theo-
logical schools.
Baron-Nixon spurns the use of
“adjunct” as a designation for these
faculty members because “Adjunct =
Appendage, Not of the core . . .
Something joined or added to another
thing but not essentially a part of it” (3). If
roughly half of today’s college and univer-
sity instructors may be characterized as
such (3), it is in the best interests of
administrators to deter such negative
portrayals.
Baron-Nixon’s theme – connecting –
emphasizes the importance of “integrating
all who teach at an institution into a
vibrant and viable community” (2). The
book is structured around five connec-
tions: to the institution, to the department,
to teaching, to students, and to scholar-
ship. Each section presents the chal-
lenge(s) administrators face followed by
detailed action plans for additional dia-
logue and reflection.
Predictably, the most comprehensive
chapter focuses on the connection to the
institution (Connection 1). Connecting or
integrating part-time faculty into institu-
tional culture is a daunting task and one
undertaken essentially without precedent.
Baron-Nixon first suggests that adminis-
trators agree on a title that “conveys
inclusion and participation rather than
exclusion and lower status” (17). Next,
she calls for coordinating inclusiveness
via a part-time faculty Coordinating
Board or Affairs Coordinator. Adequate
and proportionate pay for non full-time
faculty remains a problem; Baron-
Nixon’s “Step System” (27) is a practical
solution for increasing pay based on suc-
cessful performance and institutional
loyalty. Finally, an orientation to
institution is indispensable. She covers
both on-site and online approaches
although online instruction receives scant
attention.
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