THE ADJUNCTING STORY

As a college student and young professional, every decision seemed momentous and life-defining: majors, minors, internships, graduate schools, jobs, roommates, significant others. As the saying goes "adulting is hard" ... and it really was! In contrast, adjuncting can be easy with a little help.

​

My adjuncting story begins back in the early 1990's at Boston College. After a few changes to my major, a few fruitless attempts to find an internship, and a vague idea about graduate school, I landed in a communications class taught by an adjunct faculty member. It was my first experience learning from a non-tenured professor who applied real-world concepts to our coursework. I loved it. That professor also unlocked a creative and confident persona I never even knew I had. Afterwards, I promised myself if I ever grew my career to that level, I would pay it forward.

 

So I did. In addition to my career in public relations I have spent the last 15 years as an adjunct professor at three universities, including at my alma mater. I have prepared dozens of syllabi, graded hundreds of papers and supervised final presentations. I have mentored students into internships and helped student athletes balance the workload. I have invited dozens of guest speakers.

​

Things I am often asked:

​

"How did you get into that?"

​

"How did you even know what to put in the syllabus?"

​

"Do fulltime professionals really have time to do that?"

​

"What's the time commitment outside of the office?"

 

Reach out to me and I will share my experiences.

​

But here are three things I know about being an adjunct professor: you can infuse your day job with a newfound creativity; you can give back to an industry you love; you can impact young talent at the very beginning of their career journey.

​

Are you ready?