Same newsletter, new liaison. Happy Fall!

Hello! A brief introduction & a sort of mission statement.

Hello everyone! Kelsey Smith here. I’m going to keep using the newsletter that Katie Palfreyman, our former and beloved adjunct liaison, created. While it’s impossible to fill her shoes, I’m excited to get to know you all better and will do my best in this new role 🫡 

I was hired as adjunct faculty right after graduating with my MA in English in 2014. I teach WRTG 150, 311, 312 & ENGL 232. I live in Provo with my husband and four kids ages 9, 7, 3 & 1. love frogs, cross-country skiing, cooking, and K-dramas (The Korean wave is real! I eat kimchi every day now. When I’m avoiding grading papers, I sometimes make kimchi from scratch.)

Yesterday, I had a delightful lunch with Jacquelyn Christensen, who also teaches ENGL 232. I met Jacquelyn in 2016 while I was training to teach 232, and in the years since, we occasionally meet up for lunch. We share lesson plans, assignment ideas, and life goals, and she’s been a wonderful mentor and friend. Yesterday’s lunch reminded me of how these types of social connections with colleagues have been wonderful mainstays during my time at BYU. Although there are more than 70 of us English Department adjuncts (!), adjunct life can be a bit lonely. I hope that, as liaison, I can help keep you abreast of professional and social opportunities that will help make the adjunct teaching experience what you want it to be.

That being said, we are part-time faculty with myriad professional and social goals. Some of us are working multiple jobs, publishing books and articles, juggling parenting responsibilities, caring for parents or other family members, serving in our church callings and communities, or maybe pursuing demanding and cool hobbies. The availability for, or interest in, adjunct activities and training necessarily varies from adjunct to adjunct, and that’s perfectly okay.

I, for one, love a good training, but I like sitting in the back of the room and taking notes instead of commenting. I love a good one-on-one chat, but socializing in large group settings invariably makes me a bit uncomfortable and preoccupied with the presentability of my teeth. I’ve loved training to teach new courses, but I usually commit to teach only 3-4 classes each year so I can be at home more with my kids. This year, I RSVP’ed to attend the English Department Fall Social for the first time since I’ve been hired because I now have the duty to liaise. (Come say hi and discreetly let me know if I have something in my teeth. RSVP Here!) That’s all to say, there’s many ways to be an adjunct and a good one at that.

As liaison, I hope to continue a lot of wonderful things that Katie started, including a resource webpage for adjuncts, the Adjunct Faculty Sunshine Fund, and semesterly book clubs. I’d also like to gather some data on how you’re feeling about the adjunct experience and what sorts of activities or resources you’re interested in. So please fill out this two minute survey and give me some deets 🙂 

Good luck prepping your classes for Fall semester! Keep reading for information on this semester’s book club & a few calendar items of note.

October Adjunct Book Club: Teaching with AI

This semester’s book club is scheduled for Thursday, October 24 from 11 am - Noon in 4186 JFSB. We’ll be reading Teaching with AI and eating BYU mint brownies!

I’m really looking forward to hearing your insights on this book and on your AI teaching experiences in general. I’ve been experimenting with incorporating AI into my writing assignments, and I’ve had some fun with it! I also think dealing with AI head-on is something we should all be doing (at least according to The Atlantic). And while we’re on the subject, here’s a link to Amy Williams’s AI Policy that she sent out last week. I highly recommend including an AI policy in your syllabi!

RSVP by September 9th to get a free copy of the book!

Calendar Items

SEPTEMBER

• September 4: First day of Fall semester!

• September 11: Add/Drop Deadline

• September 13: Faculty Social A chance to mingle with full-time & part-time faculty and bring your families. RSVP by August 30. See flyer below.

OCTOBER

• October 4: WAC Training “Your Students Took Writing 150 — So/Now What?”

• October 15: Adjunct Faculty Annual Review is due! (Don’t worry about this if you’re a new hire this year.)

• October 24: Adjunct Faculty Book Club. We’re reading Teaching with AI. Sign up by September 9 to get a free copy of the book!

NOVEMBER

• November 7: WIM Training w/Shelley Reid

• November 9: WAC Training “Reflective Writing, Experiential Writing”