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human
How to get the most out of adjuncting? When is it time to stop?

Hi everyone -

I teach full time at a two year school, and I've been adjuncting at a university while I search for a tt line at a SLAC (I like my full time gig enough, but I'm afraid that if I don't teach at a 4 year school at the same time, it could hurt my marketability for the kind of job that I ultimately want). I've been teaching an intro class each semester for the past two years. I really enjoy it, but I'm not sure how I an get the most out of my experience there, and when it's time to walk.

My chair has hung a carrot on a string with me about teaching a course in my specialty area since I started. He was "trying me out" with intro, with the promise of teaching my specialty - but when it's time to make the schedule, he always has a reason not to put me down for the upper level specialty course (would students really take it, this other department might get upset, our enrollment is down, etc). I'll finally be given a course for majors in spring 2018, but it's only because one of the full time fac is tired of teaching it. 

I've also been strung along about becoming ft there. "We're getting a full time line next year" followed by "If only we had a line I would hire you here". Naturally, the full time line hasn't appeared. I feel like if I'm mainly teaching intro, it's not a good use of my time.

My main goal is to leave there with great student evals, and a solid recommendation from the chair. Is there anything else I can do to get the most out of the experience? Also, is it likely to be hired in full time as an adjunct should a line appear? I hear it's nearly impossible for this to happen.

Also, I'm keeping up with publishing, but not nearly at the pace that I would like to in order to.
gpt
Wasn't it Chris Rock who said, "There's no sex in the Champagne Room"? Well, there's no TT line at the end of adjuncting. Don't think, "I'll make them like me and they'll want to keep me around" and bust your ass accordingly. The chair could love you, but that doesn't mean the dean and assorted higher-ups even know who you are. They're the ones who are going to approve the search and the hire after that. For all you know, the dean hates the chair and has been holding out on giving the department a chance to do a TT faculty search. Or, they'll get some stupid idea in their heads that your evaluations are wonderful and you've done the grunt work, "But what about the research?" or some such thing. And when some hotshot new PhD comes along, they'll drop you (and then you can laugh ruefully when said hotshot gets the job and takes off a year later for ivy-covered pastures).

Don't listen to them when they say this stuff about "if there were only a line...." They are using you, and this kind of stuff is unconscionable. Hope for a good letter of rec, and get out ASAP.