Future of Adjunct Faculty (75% of higher ed workforce)

Shaun, you are touching here on a very "hot" topic - the status, fate, yes, exploitation, of adjuncts. Adjuncts in effect are commodities; the old professional autonomy and respect of faculty escape them. As you probe this topic, check out some of the groups that are working to improve adjuncts. For instance, I have told a friend of mine, who is head, yes, of the AFL/CIO in Wisconsin that the AFL/CIO should be organizing adjunct faculty, the new "assembly line" workers of the Knowledge Economy! This is exactly what you are poised to explore. Correlate the research out there on adjuncts with what you find. You need not to be definitive. Just get started. You could leverage this into some powerful professional opportunities too, e.g. AFL/CIO funding.