With the advent of online education, more and more universities are hiring adjunct professors, rather than on-campus professors to teach online courses. Some colleges are based solely online, and their professors live across the country, and even the world. This is different than the traditional hiring model where professors are vetted to teach within a particular department, they start teaching on campus and then go through the process of working toward tenure. The hiring process for adjuncts, however, is much different. Adjuncts are often hired on a term by term basis, and are rarely up for tenure. According to InsideHigherEd.com, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has been calling for better hiring practices and treatment of adjunct professors.

The problem with the difference in treatment of adjuncts versus tenure-track professors is the fact that adjunct professors have much less job security, less investment in the schools they teach for, and less job satisfaction. This can cause problems with academic quality, and the MLA has come out with a list of questions that academic departments can use to evaluate whether or not their treatment of adjuncts in conducive to stellar academics. The MLA recommends that all universities hiring adjuncts evaluate the process and work environment using the following questions. The questions were developed to provide schools with a tangible way to assess their level of professionalism and clarity in hiring practices, job security, departmental life, evaluations and promotion opportunities when it comes to adjuncts.

Schools can perform a self-evaluation of the "quality of life of those off the tenure track." The lists includes questions such as:

1. Do non-tenure-track faculty members receive raises, including merit increases, when tenure-track faculty members receive them?

2. Do non-tenure-track faculty members get paid for work they do outside of the classroom?

3. Do non-tenure-track faculty members have health and retirement benefits?

4. Do career paths exist for those off the tenure track?

The higher the amount of affirmative responses, the higher the level of professionalism present in treatment of adjuncts, claims the MLA. The questions were presented by the MLA’s Committee on Contingent Labor in the Profession during the organization’s annual convention, starting in Seattle on January 5th, 2012.

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This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.