I'm at the #mla21 panel on changing departmental and institutional culture for equity. I don't even belong to a department. Why attend?

Because the future of good scholarship and pedagogy depends on it.

Julie Shoults is speaking now about strategies for improving labor conditions for adjunct faculty.

She calls for reducing last-minute course assignments, compensating service work, compensating last-minute course cancellation, & offering institutional benefits. #MLA21

Further strategies for supporting contingent faculty:

- Offer flexible & paid orientation sessions
- Provide a handbook with campus policies, acronyms, and resources.
- Offer access to email, libraries, printing
- Be thoughtful about office & classroom assignments #MLA21

Further strategies for supporting contingent faculty:

- Include adjuncts in curriculum development
- offer professional development
- share information about internal & external funding
- allow adjuncts to do research
- offer sabbatical & course release opportunities

#MLA21

Further strategies for supporting contingent faculty:

- Offer evaluations and performance reviews
- Be transparent about evaluation process
- Offer opportunities for advancement linked to performance
- enable contingent faculty to evaluate one another

#MLA21 #MLA2021

Further strategies for supporting contingent faculty:

- Announce new contingent hires
- Invite contingent faculty to present their research & teaching innovations (but acknowledge they did it all without support)
- ensure eligibility for academic & teaching awards

#MLA21

[side note: I've always assumed departments didn't do these things because they were too ashamed of their labor practices to share information about their adjunct staff, but maybe they have no shame? idk]