Questions to Ask at an Adjunct Interview
These questions to ask at an adjunct interview are for anyone up for a part-time or per-course teaching post, and they are meant for the department chair or the hiring committee before you agree to a section. They follow the order the decision usually takes: the courses on offer, how much of the teaching is yours to design, the support behind you, pay and the contract, how adjuncts are rehired and evaluated, and a few to close on. Adjunct terms differ a great deal from one college to the next, so treat each answer as how it works in this department only, and get the important ones in writing.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Courses
Which courses and sections would I be teaching, and in which term?
Why ask it
Adjunct postings are often written for a pool, so the interview may be the first time a specific course is named. Get the course number and the term, and find out whether it is an introductory section or an upper-level one, because the preparation is very different. A chair who cannot name a course yet can usually still say what they expect to need and when they will know.
How many sections could you offer me, and is there a limit on how much an adjunct may teach here?
Why ask it
One section and three sections are different jobs with different incomes. Many colleges cap part-time loads by credits or courses, and the cap is set locally, so ask what it is here and whether teaching on a second campus of the same college counts toward it. If you need a minimum to make the commute worthwhile, say so now.
On which days, at what times and in which format do these sections meet?
Why ask it
Adjuncts are often offered the hours full-time faculty did not take: early morning, evening, weekends, or a campus across town. A section already in the published schedule is probably settled, but one still being planned can sometimes move, so say which days you already have taken. If an online or hybrid section would suit you better, this is the moment to mention it.
What happens if one of my sections is canceled for low enrollment?
Why ask it
A salaried instructor whose class is canceled still has a job that term, and a per-course instructor may not. You need three things from the answer: the minimum enrollment, who makes the call, and the date it is made. How full these sections were the last time they ran is the best guide to whether yours is at risk.
Why does the department need an adjunct for these sections?
Why ask it
The reason shapes how long the work lasts. Covering a sabbatical or a leave ends when that person returns, while growing enrollment or a course nobody full-time wants can go on for years. It also tells you whether you are a planned part of the schedule or a late fix.
Would I be hired for this specific course, or added to a pool you draw from each term?
Why ask it
A pool means you are approved to teach and then wait for a call, sometimes for several terms. The useful numbers are how many people are in it and how often a newcomer gets a section in the first term. Joining commits you to nothing, so there is little reason to refuse, but do not plan your income around it.
How many students usually enroll in these sections, and what is the cap?
Why ask it
Where pay is a flat amount per course, 15 students and 35 earn you the same, so enrollment decides how many hours the grading takes. A cap that gets raised once registration opens is not much of a cap, so check whether that has happened. In a writing-heavy course, the gap between the usual number and the maximum is many extra evenings of marking over a term.
Who takes these courses: majors, students filling a requirement, working adults?
Why ask it
The same course title can mean an evening room of people who came straight from work or a morning room of first-year students. Their answer tells you what pace and what kind of assignment will suit. It also shows the chair that you are picturing the people in the room before you have read the contract.
Do these sections run every term, or only once a year?
Why ask it
A course offered every fall and spring can become steady work, and one that runs every other year cannot. The second kind can still be worth taking, as one term of experience and a line on your record, but not as the start of a regular schedule.
If a full-time instructor loses a class, can they take over a section already assigned to an adjunct?
Why ask it
At some colleges a full-time instructor whose own class does not fill can be given an adjunct's section to make up their load, sometimes days before the term. It is an uncomfortable thing to raise, so put it as a question about how staffing works here. If it does happen, the detail that matters is how late it has happened.
Teaching
Is there a set syllabus for this course, or would I write my own?
Why ask it
Departments range from handing you a finished syllabus you may not change to handing you a course title and a room number. Neither is bad: a set syllabus saves weeks of unpaid preparation, and a free hand lets you teach what you know best. In between, the parts most often fixed are the learning outcomes, the grading scale and one or two required assignments, so find out which of those you could not touch.
Who chooses the textbook, and has it already been ordered for these sections?
Why ask it
If the book order has already gone to the bookstore, the choice is made for this term whatever the policy says. Request a desk copy the same day, because they can be slow to arrive. Choosing your own book is more realistic from the second term on, and where the department uses free or low-cost materials there may be no book to choose.
Are there common assignments or a shared final exam that every section has to give?
Why ask it
Multi-section courses often share an exam or one large assignment so the department can compare results across instructors. That fixes part of your calendar and part of your grading scheme before you start. You will want to see the exam, or at least a past one, before you plan the weeks that lead up to it.
Could I see a syllabus from someone who has taught this course recently?
Why ask it
It is the quickest way to learn what the department considers normal: how much reading, how many graded pieces, how strict the late policy sounds. Asking also shows you mean to fit in with how the course is taught here. If they offer to put you in touch with that instructor, take it.
Where do students in this course usually get stuck?
Why ask it
Most courses have a point where people start to disappear: the first exam, the first long paper, the unit that leans on math they have forgotten. A chair who can name it is telling you where to slow down. It is also your opening to say, briefly, what you have done at that point in a course before.
Which learning management system do you use, and is there a course shell I would start from?
Why ask it
A ready-made shell with the gradebook and modules in place can save you days, and an empty one means building it on your own time. If you have not used their system before, say so: some colleges require a short training course before they open a shell to a new instructor.
If I teach an online section, is the course already built, and is building one paid separately?
Why ask it
Designing an online course from nothing is a large job that falls outside the weeks you are paid to teach. Whether there is a development fee, and whether the college may reuse what you build after you have gone, are both matters of local policy. Get those two answers before you agree to build anything.
What do you expect from adjuncts on office hours and replying to students?
Why ask it
Requirements run from nothing stated to a fixed number of hours on campus for each section. Hours that may be held online cost you far less than hours that mean an extra trip, so that detail matters more than the number. Add them to the class time when you work out what the course pays per hour.
When a student disputes a grade or I suspect cheating, who do I go to?
Why ask it
Sooner or later one of the two comes up, and an adjunct who teaches at night may never see the chair in person. Get a name and the first step of the process. A quick, definite answer suggests the department backs its part-time instructors when a student complains, and a vague one suggests you would be handling it alone.
What should I do if I am ill and cannot teach a class meeting?
Why ask it
The answers vary: find your own substitute, move the session online, or cancel and have the missed meeting taken out of your pay. Whichever applies, you need the name of the person to tell and how early they want to hear. Raising it shows you are thinking about students arriving at an empty room.
Support
Is there an office or a shared space where I can meet students and keep my things?
Why ask it
A shared adjunct room, a desk booked by the hour and nothing at all are each common answers. If there is no private space, ask where instructors hold a conversation a student would not want overheard. Find out too whether there is a mailbox and somewhere to lock up exams.
When would I get my email account, system logins and keys?
Why ask it
Access usually follows the signed contract and the hiring paperwork, and that can land days before the first class. Until then you may be unable to see the roster, open the course site or email your students. If the term is close, offer to fill in whatever forms you can before you leave the building.
Is there an orientation for new adjuncts, and is attending it paid?
Why ask it
Orientation is where you learn how to submit grades and where the copier is, which nobody thinks to mention otherwise. Paying adjuncts to attend is each college's own choice, so there is nothing rude in checking. Where no orientation exists, the fallback is one named person willing to walk you through the first week.
Who would be my day-to-day contact: you, a course coordinator or the department office?
Why ask it
The chair hires you, but the person who answers at 4 p.m. on a Friday is often a coordinator or an administrative assistant. Get that name and how they prefer to be reached. That person is frequently the one who knows which sections are still unstaffed.
If I teach in the evening or on a weekend, who is on campus when something goes wrong?
Why ask it
The department office is usually dark by then. You want three numbers: campus security, classroom technology support and whoever can unlock a room. If the chair is unsure, an instructor who already teaches that slot will know, and is worth meeting anyway.
What can adjuncts use on campus: printing, the library, classroom technology, parking?
Why ask it
Small costs add up when the pay is per course. A paid parking permit or a tight copy limit comes straight out of what the section earns you. Library and database access that lapses between terms matters if you also do research of your own, so check whether it carries on over the summer.
Are adjuncts invited to department meetings, and is going expected?
Why ask it
The answer shows how the department sees its part-time faculty: as colleagues or as coverage. Invited and optional is one thing, and expected but unpaid is another that is better known beforehand. If you hope for more work later, turning up now and then is how people learn your name.
Can adjuncts use the teaching center or apply for professional development funds?
Why ask it
Some colleges open course design help, workshops and small travel grants to part-time faculty, and some keep them for full-time staff. If the answer is yes, find out how people hear about them, since the announcements may go to a mailing list you are not on yet.
Pay and contract
What is the pay for this course, and is it set per course, per credit or per contact hour?
Why ask it
Get the figure and the unit, because a lab or studio course with extra contact hours can be paid differently from a lecture. Where the rate comes from a published schedule, the chair can tell you where to read it. It is a normal question at an adjunct interview, and a chair who will not answer it has told you something.
Does the rate depend on my degree, my experience or how many terms I have taught here?
Why ask it
Some pay schedules have steps for a doctorate or for length of service, and you may have to supply transcripts to be placed on the right one. Mention any teaching you did elsewhere, because whether it counts toward a step is a local rule and nobody will check unless you bring it up.
When does the first paycheck arrive, and how is the pay spread across the term?
Why ask it
The first payment can come several weeks into the term, after you have already paid for the commute, the parking and the books. Payroll dates are set in advance, so the office should be able to send them to you. A short or late-starting session may run on a different pay calendar from the full term, so name the session you would teach.
If a class is canceled after I have prepared it, am I paid anything for that work?
Why ask it
Policies run from nothing, to a flat cancellation fee, to pay for the meetings already taught. It is an easy thing to assume, so find out where it is written down. Where nothing is paid, the sensible response is to hold back on unpaid preparation until the enrollment looks safe.
Is anything paid beyond classroom hours, such as required training, meetings or extra duties?
Why ask it
Preparation and grading are generally treated as part of the course rate, but mandatory training, assessment reports or advising may be paid separately or not at all. A list of everything required of adjuncts outside class is a reasonable thing to request. Each unpaid item on it lowers the real hourly figure.
Are adjuncts here eligible for any benefits, such as health coverage, retirement contributions or tuition remission?
Why ask it
Eligibility depends on the employer, on how much you teach and on where you live, so there is no general answer. Ask what applies at this college, at what load it starts and who in human resources can confirm it. Do not drop coverage you already have on the strength of a conversation.
When was the per-course rate last raised?
Why ask it
A rate that has not moved in many years buys less each year you stay. The chair rarely controls it, so ask as a matter of fact and not as a complaint. The answer helps you decide whether this is a long arrangement or a term or two.
Are adjuncts here covered by a union contract or a faculty handbook I can read?
Why ask it
Where one exists, it usually settles much of what you would otherwise have to ask: rates, cancellation pay, seniority, grievances. Reading it before you sign is quicker than asking twenty questions. If there is neither, find out where the adjunct policies are written down.
How firm is this assignment, and when would I have it in writing?
Why ask it
A spoken 'we would love to have you for the 10 a.m. section' is not yet an assignment. The thing to wait for is a signed document, whatever it is called here: a contract, an appointment letter, a notice of assignment. Until it arrives, be slow to turn down other work.
What do you need from me before a contract can be issued?
Why ask it
Official transcripts, references, a background check and proof that you may work there can each take weeks, and you often cannot be paid until they clear. Take the full list away with you and start on the slowest item the same day. Transcript and background check fees sometimes fall to the candidate, so check who covers them.
Is there any rule against teaching at another college in the same term?
Why ask it
Plenty of adjuncts piece together a schedule from two or three campuses, and departments know it. A contract may still require you to disclose other teaching, which is the reason to raise it. It also lets you say plainly which days are already taken.
Renewal
How do you decide which adjuncts are offered sections next term?
Why ask it
A seniority list, the chair's judgment, availability and who answered the email first are all real methods. Knowing which applies tells you what to do if you want to stay: build up terms of service, or simply reply fast. If it comes down to the chair's judgment, the natural follow-up is what that judgment rests on.
When would I hear about next term's assignment?
Why ask it
Some departments staff months ahead and some fill gaps in the last two weeks, and only the first kind lets you plan around the job. Find out when the schedule is built, then send your availability before that date so you are counted in the first pass.
How will my teaching be evaluated, and who does it?
Why ask it
The file may hold student surveys, a report from a classroom visit, a look at your syllabus and grades, or some mix. A written observation by a colleague is worth wanting, because it is the kind of evidence a later full-time application can use, so if nobody visits adjuncts' classes, offer to invite someone. An instructor who is never evaluated is also never told why the sections stopped coming.
How much do student evaluations count when you decide who teaches again?
Why ask it
For part-time faculty they are sometimes the only evidence anyone looks at. Listen for whether the department reads the comments or only the scores, and whether it makes allowance for a tough required course where ratings run low for everyone. Where the surveys carry all the weight, a low response rate means a handful of students decide, so find out what is normal.
How long have your current adjuncts been teaching here?
Why ask it
Long service suggests people are treated well enough to come back and that sections recur. Heavy turnover can mean poor conditions or simply graduate students passing through, and it is fair to ask which. A conversation with one of the current adjuncts will tell you more than the interview can, so request an introduction.
Do adjuncts who have taught for several terms get priority, longer contracts or a different title?
Why ask it
Some colleges have a senior or continuing rank for part-time faculty that brings assignment rights or a higher rate, and some treat the tenth term exactly like the first. Where a threshold exists, check whether a term off resets the count, because that decides whether you can afford to turn a section down.
Are summer and short-session courses open to adjuncts?
Why ask it
Those sections can fill the gap between terms, but they may be offered to full-time faculty first, and the rate is not always the regular one. A compressed session also means a whole course of grading arrives within a few weeks, so weigh that before you put your name forward.
Have adjuncts here moved into full-time positions, and how did that happen?
Why ask it
Ask for what has happened, not for what is possible. If the chair can name people, find out whether they came through an open search like anyone else. If the honest answer is that it almost never happens, you can still take the course, knowing where it does and does not lead.
Could I teach other courses in the department later, or propose one of my own?
Why ask it
Being approved for three courses instead of one makes you far easier to schedule. Approval may turn on how much graduate coursework you have in the subject, so have your transcript in mind when you name the courses you want. Proposing a new course is slower and usually passes through a curriculum committee, so treat it as a second-year idea.
To close
What do the adjuncts you most want to rehire have in common?
Why ask it
You will hear the department's working criteria: grades in on time, no student complaints, flexibility about the schedule, or strong teaching. Whatever comes first in the answer is what gets noticed. It doubles as a chance to say which of those you already do.
Is there anything in my background that makes you hesitate about this course?
Why ask it
Rules on who may teach a given subject can be strict, and a chair may be quietly wondering whether your degree fits. Asking lets you answer the doubt while you are still in the room. A concern about credentials often comes down to one document, and you want to leave knowing which.
What happens next, and when do you expect to decide?
Why ask it
Adjunct hiring can move in days when a section has no instructor, or sit for a term until one opens. Knowing which this is tells you whether to follow up next week or wait to be called. If the term is close, say how quickly you could start the paperwork.
If you offer me the section, what is due from me before the first day?
Why ask it
Book orders, a syllabus for the department file, required online training and a first-week attendance report can all carry deadlines that new instructors learn by missing them. One email with the dates in it is all you need. The question also tells the chair you are already thinking like someone who has the job.
What do you wish new adjuncts asked before their first term?
Why ask it
Chairs watch the same avoidable problems come round each year, and this hands them the chance to warn you. The answer is usually something practical that no list would have guessed. Write it down and thank them for it.
How to ask your questions at an adjunct interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to find out first
Read the posting for what it leaves out
Many adjunct postings stay open all year and name a subject, not a course. Note which of these are missing: the course, the term, the meeting times, the rate. Those gaps are your first questions, and filling them matters more than anything clever you could ask.
Look up the class schedule
Many colleges publish the schedule of classes for the current and coming term. Find the course you expect to be offered and see how many sections ran, at what hours, on which campus and how full they were if the listing shows it. 'I saw four evening sections of this course last fall. Is that where the need is?' gets a much more exact answer than an open question.
Check whether the rate is already public
Some institutions post part-time pay on a human resources page or in a faculty contract, and some publish nothing. If you can find it, do not spend an interview question on the number. Ask where you would be placed on the schedule and what would move you up it.
Work out your own floor
Before the interview, estimate the weekly hours for one section: time in class, preparation, grading, office hours, travel. Multiply by the length of the term and you have something to divide the pay by. Know the lowest figure that is worth it to you, and how many sections you could take alongside your other work, so that you can answer on the spot if they offer more than one.
What to ask at which point
Open with the course
A chair hiring an adjunct is usually solving a scheduling problem and wants to know the class will be in safe hands. Questions from Courses and Teaching show you are already picturing the room: who the students are, what the syllabus fixes, where people fall behind. Leave the contract questions until that picture is settled.
Asking about pay is expected
At many colleges the per-course rate comes from a schedule and is not bargained one person at a time, so asking is a request for information and not a negotiating move. If nobody has mentioned it by the last ten minutes, ask plainly what the course pays and when the payments fall.
If the interview is a short phone call
Some adjunct interviews are fifteen minutes with one person. Keep five things to find out: which sections and when they meet, what happens if one is canceled, whether the syllabus is set, what the course pays and on which dates, and when you would hear about the following term. Everything else can go in an email once there is an offer.
Hold the full-time question until late
Asked in the first few minutes, it can sound as though the course is only a way in. Asked near the end, as curiosity about how people's careers in the department have gone, it is a fair question and usually gets a straight answer.
Once a section is offered
Collect the terms in one message
Write back with what you understood: the course and section, the dates, the meeting times, the pay, the pay dates and what happens on cancellation. Ask the chair to correct anything that is wrong. That email is not the contract, but it is far better than memory when the contract arrives with a different section number on it.
Do the arithmetic before you say yes
Add the hours you estimated, the weeks of preparation before the term that nobody pays for, and what parking and travel will cost. A second section of the same course takes far less preparation than the first, and a second course does not. Let that decide which combination you accept.
Take the benefits questions to human resources
A chair may honestly not know how health coverage, retirement contributions or payroll rules apply to part-time faculty. Those depend on the employer, on your load and on local law, and what was true at your last college is no guide. Ask human resources how it works there and keep the reply.
Have a plan for the section that disappears
Put the date of the enrollment decision in your calendar as soon as you know it. Until that day has passed, keep other options open and pace your unpaid preparation. If the section is canceled, a short, gracious reply asking to be kept in mind is what gets you the next call.
Where adjunct candidates slip up
Hearing a promise in 'we usually'
'We usually have sections for good people' describes the past. It commits nobody to anything next term. Thank them, then ask how assignments are decided and when you would be told.
Assuming it works as it did at your last college
Load limits, cancellation pay, evaluation and seniority are set institution by institution, and sometimes department by department. An experienced adjunct is the one most likely to skip a question because they think they know the answer.
Saying yes to anything to get a foot in the door
An unfamiliar course at an awkward hour with a week's notice is a hard place to teach well, and the evaluations from that term may be the first thing in your file. It is fine to say which courses you can do properly and which you would need a term's notice for.
Skipping the money questions so as not to seem mercenary
Chairs know what adjunct pay is and do not expect you to pretend it is beside the point. A candidate who asks calmly about rates, pay dates and canceled sections comes across as someone who has done this work before.