* Adapted from the MSU Women's Studies Manual

Adjunct Faculty are an integral part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. We value the expertise Adjunct Faculty bring to our College and the connections they help us make between campus and community. In this document we hope to provide you with information valuable to teaching at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

1. Each student should receive a course syllabus. We encourage you to post your syllabus to the Web. Information about preparing a syllabus is included in this handbook. Contact your department chair or administrative assistant for examples of course syllabi.
2. Courses may be listed as either grade or P/N. If a course is P/N only, a student may not opt for a grade. Be sure to let the secretary know what grading choice you wish to list.
3. Textbook orders are typically due the fourth or fifth week of the semester prior to the semester the course is offered. Forms for ordering come to the office secretary, and she will forward them to you. They should be returned to her by the deadline date. Your textbook may have already been ordered in certain courses or if you were hired after textbook orders needed to be submitted.
4. Mid-term rosters will be distributed to you and must be returned by the due date. They should be checked carefully following instructions attached.
5. Grade rosters are available finals week. These must be returned by the due date. No exceptions can be allowed. Faculty not in Mankato can call grades in to the secretary. This must be done usually not later than Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. following the end of the semester.
6. Be sure the office and your students know how and when they can reach you when they have questions about the class.
7. Teaching and office supplies are available from your department office.
8. To receive a faculty identification card, adjunct faculty need to pick up a form from Human Resources and take it to the MavCard Office in the Wigley Administration Building. To check out materials and equipment from the library faculty need to take their identification card to the library and register at the circulation desk.
9. Please familiarize yourself with the requirements for majors in your department. Also be aware of general university requirements and of places on campus students can get help. You will be expected to make appropriate referrals to university and community agencies if asked. If you have a question that you cannot answer please call CSBS Advising "U" at 389-6306, or your department chair or administrative assistant.
10. An adjunct faculty member shall not teach more than ten credits in any one academic year. The appointment terminates at the end of the stated period and carries no implication for future employment. The department shall be responsible for evaluating the academic credentials of the candidates and making recommendations for appointment.
11. Pay Procedures - For on-campus classes, see the secretary in your department office. Extended Campus Office handles all forms, etc. for Extended Campus classes. Contact them directly if you have questions or problem.
12. Be sure to let us, we well as Extended Campus, know the number of people in your extended campus class. If, on the first night you have fewer students than required for the class to continue, call the Extended Campus number (they are open evenings the first week of extended campus classes) and they will give you directions as to whether the class can take place. Notify us the next day if the class is filled.
13. Instructor Evaluations
    • MSU Standard Student Evaluations - College policy requires student evaluations must be completed for all adjunct taught courses using the standardized MSU forms. The course evaluation request form should be requested from the department secretary prior to the last two weeks before the end of the last class and the completed student responses must be returned the day after they are given by someone other than the instructor. All courses must be independently evaluated (i.e., forms administered by someone other than the instructor). A copy of the results may be filed with the departmental chair.
    • In Class Observations - As is true for full-time faculty, members of the program committee personnel subcommittee may wish to observe the classroom performance of an adjunct faculty member as part of the evaluation process. You would, of course, be asked about convenient times, etc.
    • Evaluation for re-employment would generally include consideration of carefulness and adequacy of course preparation, mastery of the subject matter, excellence of teaching, fairness and adequacy of student evaluation produces. Actual re-employment would, upon satisfactory evaluation, depend upon the availability of funds, programming needs, and scheduling concerns.

*Thank you to Carol Perkins, Chair of the Women's Studies Department, for sharing their, "Adjunct Faculty Handbook," with the College.