Adjunct professor is a term that is commonly used in the academic world, but not everyone is familiar with its meaning. An adjunct professor is a part-time faculty member who teaches courses at a college or university. They are not full-time employees of the institution, but are hired on a contract basis to teach specific courses.
Definitions
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an adjunct professor is “a professor who is not a regular or permanent member of a faculty but who is hired to teach a specific course or courses for a semester or academic year.”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines an adjunct professor as “a part-time or temporary professor at a college or university, typically one who is not on the tenure track.”
Origin
The term “adjunct” comes from the Latin word “adjunctus,” which means “added” or “attached to.” The term has been used in academia since the early 20th century to refer to part-time faculty members who are not on the tenure track.
Meaning in different dictionaries
The meaning of adjunct professor is consistent across different dictionaries. It refers to a part-time faculty member who is hired to teach specific courses at a college or university.
Associations
Adjunct professors are often associated with the gig economy, as they are not full-time employees of the institution and are hired on a contract basis. They are also associated with the growing trend of contingent labor in academia, as more and more colleges and universities rely on part-time faculty to teach courses.
Synonyms
Synonyms for adjunct professor include part-time faculty member, visiting professor, and lecturer.
Antonyms
Antonyms for adjunct professor include tenured professor, full-time faculty member, and permanent faculty member.
The same root words
The word “adjunct” comes from the Latin word “adjunctus,” which means “added” or “attached to.” The same root word is used in other words such as “adjunctive,” which means “serving as an addition or supplement,” and “adjunction,” which means “the act of adding or attaching.”
Example Sentences
- Professor Smith is an adjunct professor who teaches two courses at the university each semester.
- The department is looking to hire an adjunct professor to teach a course on modern art history.
- As an adjunct professor, Dr. Jones does not have the same benefits and job security as full-time faculty members.
- The university relies heavily on adjunct professors to teach courses in subjects where there is a shortage of full-time faculty members.