Academic Medicine Open Forum

I am interested in anyone's experience in defining adjuncts and outlining their benefits, particularly with an eye toward 1) some adjuncts being volunteer and others being paid a stipend and 2) differences in definitions of adjunct faculty across colleges and their impact on policy.  Thank you for the collective wisdom of this group!  

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Wendy Ward
Associate Provost for Faculty
UAMS Medical Center
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Morning! We had some of the same issues but made a change to call all non-paid faculty voluntary. Because we are not able to offer tenure yet, all of use carry Clinical with our title. For example, I am a Clinical Professor (vs. just "Professor). If I was non-paid I would be Voluntary Clinical Professor. Adjunct at UH refers to any paid faculty member, for whom their work at the COM is not their primary assignment. If someone is voluntary, say a Voluntary Clinical Associate Professor and then takes a .20 paid role, there title becomes Adjunct - just Adjunct. It does not make some of the docs happy as they don't view the receipt of a paycheck as a positive, but view the change in tite as a negative!

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Jacquline Levesque
Associate Dean for GME & Faculty Affairs
University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2025 02:12:46 PM
From: Wendy Ward
Subject: Adjunct faculty definition and benefits

I am interested in anyone's experience in defining adjuncts and outlining their benefits, particularly with an eye toward 1) some adjuncts being volunteer and others being paid a stipend and 2) differences in definitions of adjunct faculty across colleges and their impact on policy.  Thank you for the collective wisdom of this group!  

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Wendy Ward
Associate Provost for Faculty
UAMS Medical Center
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Hello from Minnesota! Adjunct professor here. I left the University as my primary site a few years ago, however I still mentor and do some informal teaching (all non-paid) at the University of Minnesota. I am able to keep an Adjunct Professor title (instead of the Professor title) and get access to the medical libraries, emails, and a few other items. There is a cost to the Department so there is an expectation that I do something of value (reasonable). No other benefits such as access to parking discounts, benefits, etc but the connection to the site I love is entirely worth it for me. 

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Karyn Baum
Adjunct Professor
University of Minnesota Medical School
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2025 02:12:46 PM
From: Wendy Ward
Subject: Adjunct faculty definition and benefits

I am interested in anyone's experience in defining adjuncts and outlining their benefits, particularly with an eye toward 1) some adjuncts being volunteer and others being paid a stipend and 2) differences in definitions of adjunct faculty across colleges and their impact on policy.  Thank you for the collective wisdom of this group!  

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Wendy Ward
Associate Provost for Faculty
UAMS Medical Center
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Good morning! I'm also interested in what other campuses, especially branch campuses, provide their volunteer or adjunct faculty. I serve as the Administrative Director for the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine's branch campus and facilitate the faculty appointment process for all of our faculty members on our campus. Our faculty members do receive an adjunct appointment, but the greater University does not distinguish between clinical or non-clinical. Everyone is either an adjunct assistant professor, adjunct associate professor, or adjunct professor for the most part. 

Since these are non-paid positions, we try to offer particular benefits that the faculty do find valuable. The adjunct faculty get access to main campus resources like the health sciences library where they have access to journals, databases, etc. They also get access to their clinical department's Grand Rounds opportunities so they can claim CME and/or MOC credits if available. The adjunct faculty members also receive departmental communications (e.g. newsletters) so they know what is occurring in their appointing departments, even if the information doesn't necessarily pertain to them. We also offer a teaching scholars faculty development program for interested faculty who want to dive deeper into teaching, learner feedback, etc. which is facilitated by the main campus. There are also quarterly faculty development opportunities available for all of our adjuncts that is held virtually by facilitators on the main campus as well. Our main campus recently instituted a small swag bag for new adjunct faculty as a welcome and thank you from the Dean of the College of Medicine.

There are some examples that our campus provides these adjunct faculty members who volunteer their time to teach the medical students, and some residents, on our branch campus. I hope this is helpful! Thank you!

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Kelly Breffle
Administrative Director
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2025 02:12:46 PM
From: Wendy Ward
Subject: Adjunct faculty definition and benefits

I am interested in anyone's experience in defining adjuncts and outlining their benefits, particularly with an eye toward 1) some adjuncts being volunteer and others being paid a stipend and 2) differences in definitions of adjunct faculty across colleges and their impact on policy.  Thank you for the collective wisdom of this group!  

------------------------------
Wendy Ward
Associate Provost for Faculty
UAMS Medical Center
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