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Adjunct instructor vs adjunct faculty

The differences between adjunct instructors and adjunct faculties can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an adjunct faculty has an average salary of $83,069, which is higher than the $52,030 average annual salary of an adjunct instructor.

The top three skills for an adjunct instructor include student learning, syllabus and student performance. The most important skills for an adjunct faculty are student learning, syllabus, and philosophy.

Adjunct instructor vs adjunct faculty overview

Adjunct InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Yearly salary$52,030$83,069
Hourly rate$25.01$39.94
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs40,63326,791
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4246
Years of experience-4

What does an adjunct instructor do?

An adjunct instructor is a faculty member responsible for teaching an area of expertise within a specific contract period. The duties of an adjunct instructor are almost identical as a regular instructor, only that the work benefits are limited. These duties include preparing comprehensive lesson plans, monitoring the students' learning progress, and evaluating their knowledge by conducting tests and activities. An adjunct instructor must have an extensive comprehension of the learning curriculum to provide lectures accordingly.

What does an adjunct faculty do?

Adjunct faculty is the collective term for adjunct professors or lecturers. The adjunct faculty teaches students based on the limited-term of their contract. Oftentimes, they teach preparatory or introductory courses by semester arrangement for the entire academic year. Most of them are employed in higher education. Unlike regular professors, adjunct faculty do not have benefits and are not required to be present in meetings. They can work as either a contract professor or a part-time professor.

Adjunct instructor vs adjunct faculty salary

Adjunct instructors and adjunct faculties have different pay scales, as shown below.

Adjunct InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Average salary$52,030$83,069
Salary rangeBetween $32,000 And $83,000Between $45,000 And $152,000
Highest paying CityBakersfield, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyKern Community College DistrictHca Hospital Services Of San Diego
Best paying industryEducationGovernment

Differences between adjunct instructor and adjunct faculty education

There are a few differences between an adjunct instructor and an adjunct faculty in terms of educational background:

Adjunct InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorBusinessNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Adjunct instructor vs adjunct faculty demographics

Here are the differences between adjunct instructors' and adjunct faculties' demographics:

Adjunct InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Average age4246
Gender ratioMale, 45.2% Female, 54.8%Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 11.2% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage11%16%

Differences between adjunct instructor and adjunct faculty duties and responsibilities

Adjunct instructor example responsibilities.

  • Utilize blackboard management system to encourage online discussions and manage grades.
  • Develop syllabus, PowerPoint presentations on the disease model of alcoholism, physiology and pharmacology of addictive drugs and introduction to counseling
  • Revise and update syllabus with contemporary psychology, economics, and sociology research.
  • Experience with blackboard online software, facilitate on line instruction and assessments, utilize advanced technologies for presentations.
  • Prepare and deliver brief lectures to undergraduate students on topics such as mammalian physiology, reproduction, genetics, etc.
  • Modele positive work ethics, punctuality and professionalism.
  • Show more

Adjunct faculty example responsibilities.

  • Lead early childhood program initiatives.
  • Provide detail academic instruction for college students in anatomy & physiology, and medical terminology.
  • Prepare lectures, in-class exercises, and collect entirely new course materials to create a personalize syllabus
  • Inform students about course requirements, evaluation procedures, attendance and participation requirements in a course syllabus.
  • Facilitate teaching of online humanities course examining relationship between philosophy and ethics including issues relating to morality.
  • Provide instruction in accounting, economics, federal taxation, management, personnel and small business management.
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Adjunct instructor vs adjunct faculty skills

Common adjunct instructor skills
  • Student Learning, 10%
  • Syllabus, 7%
  • Student Performance, 5%
  • Professional Development, 5%
  • Philosophy, 5%
  • Course Curriculum, 4%
Common adjunct faculty skills
  • Student Learning, 11%
  • Syllabus, 8%
  • Philosophy, 7%
  • Professional Development, 6%
  • Course Syllabus, 5%
  • Course Content, 5%

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