This is a copy of a letter to the editor (3/4/07) that I wrote to the Globe in response to an op ed slamming MA community colleges: Discuss this article on the forums. (1 posts)

NO GROUP is more disheartened by the low graduation rate of community college students in the Commonwealth than community college faculty. In their criticism, Menino and Gottlieb left out one of the major factors contributing to this dismal picture. Studies, such as that of Daniel Jacoby in the November/December 2006 Journal of Higher Education, show a clear correlation between the rise in the use of adjunct faculty and the decline of graduation rates.

Part-timers are not paid to hold office hours, do advising, or serve on committees, so as the number of full-time professors decreases, their workload increases, and they have less time to help individual students. Students who need help from a part-time faculty member are usually out of luck.

The American Association of University Professors recommends that colleges have no more than 25 percent adjunct faculty. In my department, there are nine full-timers and 36 part-timers. If the Commonwealth is committed to improving community college graduation rates, it must also be committed to funding more full-time faculty positions.

BETSY SMITH
Brewster

The writer is adjunct professor of English as a second language at Cape Cod Community College.