Everything You Wanted to Know About Being an Adjunct Professor

Recorded Webinar
Instructor: Marianne Yoshioka, M.S.W., MBA, Ph.D., LCSW 
CEs: not offered for this course 
Level: Intermediate
Target Audience: Social workers and other social service providers.
Course Delivery Method and Format: Recorded webinar, self study. All courses are hosted on SmithOnline. Login information will be emailed immediately after registration to the email address entered during registration.
System Requirements: Attendees will need access to a computer with internet and the capability to play recorded videos.

Date of original webinar: September 9, 2019

There are many professionals – social workers and others- who are curious about becoming an adjunct faculty member but are not sure how to get started or how to develop teaching skills for adult learners.  To teach well requires time, thoughtfulness, and the use of ourselves as professionals. It is important for all instructors to have a perspective of the role of adjunct faculty within an academic department or school, the role and objectives of the instructor, understand how to create a dynamic learning environment, and what constitutes great teaching.

This workshop will provide attendees with an overview of teaching as an adjunct faculty member from point of hire to understanding the objectives of an effective university instructor or advisor to being in the classroom.  We will cover how academic departments are structured, how adjunct faculty are hired, what specifically is the instructor’s role in the classroom, what creates a great learning environment and what brings rigor to instruction. We will cover the most common errors of new instructors in classroom management from policies to interpersonal dynamics. Special attention will be given to how power and privilege manifest in the classroom, the impact that can have on instructors, particularly instructors of color, and ways to address it. Case examples will be presented and examples of the most important classroom policies will be provided. Although this course will center the instruction of social work, the content is relevant for anyone teaching in the social sciences.

Registration Fee and Deadline:

$30 (one time registration fee of $5) | Ongoing

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the administrative and faculty structure of an academic department or school.
2. Develop a nuanced understanding of the role and objectives of the instructor of a college level course.
3. Identify a range of strategies to improve classroom management.
4. Articulate specific strategies to increase the level of rigor in one’s teaching.
5. Explain how power and privilege can manifest in the classroom and its impact.

Instructor Biography:

Marianne R. Yoshioka, M.S.W., MBA, Ph.D., LCSW,  is the dean and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor of the Smith College School for Social Work. Prior to Smith College, Yoshioka spent 18 years on the faculty of the New York City’s Columbia School of Social Work, and also served as the school’s associate dean of Academic Affairs. Throughout her academic career Marianne has hired and worked with hundreds of adjunct faculty, helping to prepare them for teaching at the college level and offering mentorship to support them in their role as instructors. As a woman of color, she is particularly attuned to the ways that power and privilege can function and impact classroom instructors and students. As a clinical social worker, she holds a deep commitment to the education of well-educated, well-prepared social workers through the teaching excellence of their instructors.

Originally trained as a clinical social worker, Yoshioka focused her research on the areas of addiction, family therapy, HIV/AIDS, family violence in Asian communities and the design and development of culturally tailored intervention. She has received related research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as private foundations, and has published her findings extensively in an effort to advance knowledge of and services for underrepresented communities. Yoshioka has taught in the areas of clinical practice, advanced research methods, the developmental life course and practice with battered women. She received her Ph.D. from Florida State University’s School of Social Work, her M.S.W. from the University of Michigan and her B.A (honors) from Canada’s University of Western Ontario.