Some do it for fun and some do it for the added income – either way, most Baker University adjuncts said they love their teaching positions.
Adjunct Instructor of Biology Roger Boeken is on his seventh year teaching as an adjunct at Baker.
“I really like teaching here because the students and staff are so friendly, and I think the equipment they provide you to work with is very high-tech and advanced, which is an advantage for me,” he said.
With prior teaching at different community college classes, Boeken said Baker is an experience in itself.
“Most of us adjuncts have other jobs. I migrated here because of the position offer I received and the pay was a lot better than what I was getting at a variety of community colleges,” Boeken said.
Being an adjunct requires a flexible schedule not only because of the unknown amount of teaching time, but because of the different course availability.
“We’re hired on a contract – my job starts and ends on a certain date with no guarantees and no benefits,” Boeken said. “But to be honest, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be here. I like to tell people that ‘I like this gig.'”
John Pepper, visiting assistant professor of business, said he is not so much an adjunct and not so much a full-time teacher.
“I am kind of the in-between stage of an adjunct because I teach a couple classes here at Baker, as well as a couple at Johnson County Community College,” Pepper said.
With this being his first year teaching here, Pepper said he is very lucky to be able to become part of the Baker community.
“I absolutely love it here – the students, the faculty, the environment – it doesn’t get any better than this,” he said. “I have been offered a full-time position to teach at Baker next year, and I never once gave it a second-thought.”
Junior Shelly Bock is in her second semester of having Pepper as a professor.
“I had Professor Pepper last semester when he first came here, and I loved him,” Bock said. “His style of teaching makes the students actually want to do the work, and that’s pretty amazing.”
Also her first year with a teaching position at Baker, Adjunct Instructor of Sociology Janine Cox has a second job that is not like most other adjuncts.
“In addition to teaching a couple courses here, I am also an attorney for the Public Defender’s Office in Topeka. I am in charge of the appellate court, where I take on arguing cases (most recently death cases) in front of a court audience,” Cox said. “Compared to a professor whose main duty is to be a professor, I really think by teaching a sociology class my practical experience as an attorney has given my students a different view on a lot of aspects.”
Cox said she does have other teaching experiences, but that it has all been at bigger universities such as the University of Kansas.
“Obviously, the classes here are very small, but I like that about Baker,” she said. “All of the students I have this semester, I had last semester, so that is just one of the benefits of being at such a small school … getting to know the students on a personal level.”
Senior Zach Middleton said he has had a class with Cox before and has really enjoyed her ability to share what it’s really like in the courthouse.
“She’s a great teacher. She really knows her stuff and I think the fact that she works as an attorney really makes her classes more realistic,” Middleton said.
Adjunct Instructor of History Leonard Ortiz has been teaching here since 2002 and said he knows the advantages of teaching at Baker.
“Unlike many other universities who prefer adjuncts only teach survey courses, Baker has given me the opportunity to teach upper division courses,” Ortiz said. “I feel like I have a lot of academic freedom here, and I am grateful of that.”
Ortiz said he has heard other adjuncts say they do not feel like they belong to a department since they only work part-time, but he said he feels the complete opposite.
“I have always felt that my colleagues have looked at me as an equal as they have invited me to participate in both social and professional activities outside of the classroom,” he said. “I absolutely love it here – a classic yet small liberal arts university that has a very friendly environment and a true learning community where people come first.”
Teaching here since last fall, Adjunct Instructor of English Robert Howard said he also enjoys the more intimate atmosphere Baker has to offer.
“Compared to KU, where I also teach classes regularly, it’s nice to come here and actually know people’s names,” Howard said. “I like the fact that I can switch back and forth from a big university such as KU to Baker; it gives some variety to the way I teach.”
Being stable in his current income, Howard said he does not necessarily need this job for the money.
“If I didn’t really want the job, I could have said ‘no.’ I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t like it,” Howard said. “Maybe next week I won’t like it as much with the hundred papers I have to grade, but other than that, this job is very enjoyable to me.”