A passionate connection to teaching is essential in teacher's commitment and success. It does not matter that they are full-time or part-time.

Committed teachers update their knowledge regularly and consider this to be a part of their responsibilities.

A passionate connection to teaching is essential in teacher's commitment and success. It does not matter that they are full-time or part-time.

Committed teachers update their knowledge regularly and consider this to be a part of their responsibilities.

Why would not they, dear Mahfuz?!

I guess it would be unfair to say otherwise. Engaging in lecturing, whether full time or part time is making a commitment. I do not see why part time lecturers should not have the same level of committed than full time ones. Perhaps, finding out the reasons why some lecturers work part time could provide an important indication as to their level of commitment.

Dear Mahfuz,

Dear All,

Commitment of lecturers depends on the experience with students of the given lecturer. I think personnel impressions and the lecturers’teaching history can influence this commitment.

Dealing with talented and industrious students must have positive impact on lecturers. And of course, the contrary is right, too

I am going to against the motion, please do not give negative vote. If you don't like it ask me I will delete my comment.

In my opinion Part time lecturer can never have the commitment as a full timer. Can explain you with example. I have two friends X and Y, X meets me regularly and Y meets me occasionally. I need not to say that I would definitely have good tuning and understanding with X just because of regular interaction.

I think commitment and flair for teaching are part of the attitude of the person to a great extent. Many teachers, whether as part-time or full-time would not do a bad job by virtue of their attitude and disposition. I really do not think that part time or full time aspect determines one's sense of commitment towards teaching.

Great Thought Debi Sir...

Dear Professor Mahfuz, 

According what you wrote it could be more other factors they may influence to the commitment and enthusiasm from the part-time lecturers. it'd very interesting to create a index to do this evaluation in some universities supported by Structural Equation Models (SEM) or Multivariate statistic.

Part time lecturers can face more difficulties than full timers because of their occasional presence and less knowledge of the environment/ student level and progress,.etc. Hence, they may act/look as being less committed while at the same time the students themselves might be degraded by sudden changes in style especially with higher frequency of resorting to part timers. Hence, reliance on part timers should be to the minimum and in special circumstances.  Thanks. @Aldmour

Full time lecturers have more possibilities of interacting  with students and more experience about the interaction itself. However, a part-time lecturer may also be a good teacher and an able interlocutor for the students.

Passion, enthusiasm, and commitment are irrespective of the part-time/ full- time status, and part-time lecturers can be just as motivated. However, the factors contributing to motivation may be somewhat compromised in part-time faculty owing to the instructor's relatively limited knowledge of the learners, resources, facilities etc in comparison to full-time staff. 

In that sense, it is important to differentiate between lecturers who primarily lecture and deliver content vis-a-vis lecturers who actively create learner-centred environments. This is not just a personal preference but has to do with content area, nature of the lesson, intended objectives, and university policies. For traditional lecturing, there should be minimal difference between full time and part time faculty. For more interactive and learner centred approaches involving problem-based learning platforms, the lecturer needs to have sound understanding of his target audience and their learning styles, and this is where full timers may have noticeable advantages.

I think it depend on availability of teaching staffs  and requirements for practical side. May be there are some negativity like  the interacting with program  students and prolongation of the program due to some seasonal interruptions.

@ Dear Behrouz,

I completely agree with you that a passionate connection to teaching is essential in teacher's commitment and success. Passionate connection leads to more loyalty and more commitment to the university.

@ Dear Rahul,

You said that part time lecturer can never have the commitment as a full timer. May be some part timers are not committed as full timers, but I believe we can not generalize this result.

@ Dear Andras,

Your statement is highly appreciated. Dealing with talented and industrious students must have positive impact on lecturers.You have a good point which needs more discussion and elaboration.

Just entered this question.

My spontaneous answer is yes. The reason is the superproportional engagement and the intense wish to do the best.

But you never shall tell those collegues, you are only short time workers. I think the time - performance bilance is better for the part time lecturers.

@ Dear Debi,

I highly appreciate you comments. You said that commitment and flair for teaching are part of the attitude of the person to a great extent. Attitude is a very essential factor in determining the lecture`s level of commitment.

@ Dear Hanno,

Your post is highly appreciated. Did you mean that part-time lecturers have more commitment and enthusiasm to university students than full time lecturers?

Well, I worked after graduation as a part time lecturer with all the passion, enthusiasm, and commitment. But to be honest to you, the difference between working as a part- time and a fill- time lecturer is just like the difference between living in a rented house and living in an owned property home, for many reasons some of them is as dear Enzo said" Full time lecturers have more possibilities of interacting with students" in addition to the inadvertent lack to merge with the entire system and attitudes.

1. Full time Lecturers can plan, discuss, conduct work shop and seminar, do research and in addition participate in cultural activities. Further, they have greater stake in the welfare of the institution. They have a sense of belonging and identity with the institution.

2. Discussion of project work with the students, career advice for the students etc., can take place on a routine basis.

3. The students identify the institution with the quality of full time faculty.

However, part time lecturers can bring in industry experience, different outlook on the subject, impartial evaluation, frank opinions, variety in approaches to the subject and so on.

It should be remembered that it is subject dependent also. A subject like management requires equal involvement of full time and part time lecturers.   

@ Dear Hanno,

Excellent comment, it is in respect of time they (part-timers and full-timers) spent with the students. That is what I wrote in example of my comment.

@ Judeh Sir,

I agree, let me not generalize that fact and you would also be agree that exceptions are everywhere...

Few part-timers have more commitment than the full-timers and few full-timer have least commitment also.

In this age of Globalization and deglobalization, full time faculty will become a distant dream either for quality or quantity due to the explosion of entry of millions of graduates and Post graduates. Part time  or even voluntary engagement will become a necessity.I understand in  Australia part time activity is existing for a lecturer in  not one but more than one to even make a decent living. There are  institutions running with majority part time and temporary appointments  and do not pay in time.!!.

Teacher's commitment is not dependent on type of course/ lecture, part-time or full-time. There are teachers for whom, teaching is passion and not merely a profession. However, both types have merits and demerits. In part-time lectures, teacher & student contact time is lesser; but the students' expectations are the same. Further, teachers have very  limited time for projects/assignments. However, for part-time lectures, the most reputed and recognized professionals / scientists / researchers / academicians, may be requested to take the lectures as per their convenient times. The level of commitment and enthusiasm are likely to be same in both the cases.

Both instructions should follow the rules and obligations. However, few of the part timers teachers do not care. Others do care more because they might thing for future full time enrollment.

Dear Palani,

Your comments are highly appreciated. Part-time lecturer have some other commitments also, so the concentration will be less towards the students. I agree with you since the main commitment would be to the students of the university with whom the same lecturer is working as a full timer.

I agree also sith your statement that the full time faculty can have a better lesson planing than the part-time lecturer, since the time they spend with the students are more and the possibility of knowing  strength and weakness  of the students can be assessed very well by the full-timer. 

Being enthusiastic as an Adjunct faculty or fulltime faculty depends on the individuals, as many RG members have correctly pointed out. Adjunct faculty also has the same commitment (to the courses they take) as fulltime faculty. As they are being payed for and being evaluated of their lectures. But again students don’t see any difference whether they are fulltime or part time, they expect same from both

In moi University where I am Based, i see the p/timers with less commitment compared to the regular lecturers. The p/timers have little time for the students, unlike the full timers. But once the part timers are employed  as full time lecturers this trend changes.

Dear Taratisio,

I agree with you that the part-timers have little time for the students, unlike the full timers. The full-timer has to allocate 8-10 hours per week for students as office hours, whereas the part-timer situation is different. Will this affect the interaction between lecturers and students?

Dear Mahfuz,

an answer to your question 10 hours ago:

If you look to the average behaviour, I would say yes. Of course you always find p-lectures without enthusiasm, but have a look around to the full-time collegues. You will also find bored and disinterested full time profis. As always in life, it will depend strongly on the individual character and motivation of the regarded persons.

A short comment to the timing balance for the available time for students. You may be right, with your office hours. But during office hours you don´t give lectures. And the main contact develops during the lessons, not in some office jobs. So I can´t follow the arguements, that less office means automatically less enthusiasm and commitment.

Part-time faculty constitute an important part of the instructional work force that provide a variety of educational services with diverse viewpoint on the subject, unbiased evaluation, frank opinions, assorted approaches and industrial experience. Some regular faculty of a university/college having expertise in particular subject also act as per timer in other academic instructions or industry. Level of commitment and enthusiasm vary with respect to status of the part-timer. However, full-time faculty spend relatively more time than part-time faculty on some high-impact practices. The roles and concerns of part-time faculty differ among academic institutions. Also, the status distinctions among academic community contradict the valuable contributions of part-time faculty making to higher education.

Dear Hanno,

Office hours for lecturers lead to more interaction between lecturer and students through answering their questions and solving their problems. More office hours mean more contacts with students,a nd it does not automatically mean more enthusiasm and commitment.

Dear Yogesh,

Yes, there are many advantages of part-time lecturers. The main advantages as you mentioned include that the part-time faculty constitute an important part of the instructional work force that provide a variety of educational services with diverse viewpoint on the subject, unbiased evaluation, frank opinions, assorted approaches and industrial experience. Part-timer represent fresh blood for any university becase they are from outside the university.

Dear All,

Commercialisation of higher education means a deluge of untalented and lazy students. One cannot cast pearls before swine for a long time. The burnout of teachers can be explained partly by the reactions of ignorant and uncultivated students.

Dear Sadagopan,

Your answer to my question is highly appreciated. I agree with you that full time lecturers can plan, discuss, conduct work shop and seminar, do research and in addition participate in cultural activities. Further, they have greater stake in the welfare of the institution and they have a sense of belonging and identity with the institution. It is nicely said.

Teaching profession is a noble  one and the commitment that we  the Baby boomers saw from the teachers and lecturers are still fresh in memory and cannot be erased. With privatization and commercialization, part timers life are miserable . The quality of part timers are also leading to students dissatisfaction . One generation of STEM got trapped in IT mania and that resulted in lack of professionals in core subjects for considerable period.But the Globalisation is filling the gap . Part time, visiting faculty are the norm and MOOC is also contributing which is created by dedicated  students and Professors as a part time contribution. I foresee volunteering will be the next phase along with part timers if they can keep updated with changes in Technology and reduce the expected burnout of Full timers..

Dear Nirmal,

I appreciate your viewpoint that the quality of part timers are leading to students dissatisfaction. What about full-timers. Do you think they are better?

For Greek Universities, in most of the times the part time lecturer are more enthusiastic than the full professors. The explanation is easy: They have to prove their value, while the others are already life-time professors and they do not worry about their position.

Dear Demetris,

What is happening in Greek that in most of the times the part time lecturer are more enthusiastic than the full professors is logic. Your explanation that they have to  prove their value is built on a reasonalble reasoning. .

Dear Mahfuz Judeh

Full  timers dedicated to profession and  passion to  contribute do have hard time in meeting aspirations of Students along with institution policy and their competitive environment. In general they can be rated , motivated with comprehensive succession plan and giving adequate support to produce results. Today I had an opportunity to observe a Principal  passionate to motivate her students  giving a pep talk and then immediately rushing to a meeting . I could clearly see her burnout structure even at the very morning session. Alternatively one faculty was grumbling for the Free laptop distribution  to students and  not to faculties!!! 

We never look at the problems of part time faculty members. They are hired and fired at will. They are given subjects at random or what is left after distributing among the full timers. They do not have any fixed pay nor are they given any consideration in any benefits. If any thing good has to occur, include them in larger plans of the organization. 

In my opinion, lecturers commitment and enthusiasm to university students have nothing with the job status of the lecturer. Highly committed lecturers can be equally found among part-time and full-time lecturers.

I am one of the part time professors ( not by choice) who has equal if not more commitment and enthusiasm for my students and passion for the subject I deliver.   

Dear All, 

devotion, enthusiasm, and being proffesional is probably the matter of personal attitude, skills and knowledge, not the type of employment. I can see many good and bad teachers in both groups. The good ones know their topic, know how to communicate it clearly and get students interested, showing them that this both fascinating and useful. The bad ones simply cannot do that...

Dear Mohammed and Dejenie,

I can see that you the job status of the lecturer i.e. part-timer or full-timer have nothing to do with her/his commitment and enthusiasm.

As said by Dejenie that part-timers have equal, if not more, commitment, enthusiasm and passion for their students.

In my opinion, part-time lecturers will generally be equally enthusiastic (despite receiving a smaller compensation per course taught). This could be because they are new to the profession and are enjoying it (have not become tired of it), and some of them want to be promoted to full-time teaching positions so they are motivated. If the teaching quality may be the same, where the employment status could make a difference is giving additional responsibilities. If we want a promising part-timer to do research or carry out some collaborative work or do social and professional activities inside the university, then we should promote them to full-time positions so that their contracts and job descriptions will allow that. 

Having said all this, although many part-timers are good at their teaching, It is unfair to always accept equal or superior performance from them because they do not get the same support from the university (see the link below, page 26, section VI) and they do not get the same benefits that full timers do. Part-timers could be older former full time professionals or could be new teachers. They are usually employed or preferred by the management for financial reasons (cost saving) or because of the nature of the institution (for example, if it is very dispersed geographically with many campuses, centers, or offices [one of my universities was like this])... This is a deep issue that we can discuss from many different angles and perspectives. Thanks for the thought provoking question. 

http://www.aaanet.org/_cs_upload/resources/departments/4905_1.pdf

This attached article is very interesting. The article  tests whether organizational commitment, as described by Mowday (1979), differs between four groups of faculty: full-time, on-ground; full-time, on-line; part-time, on-ground and part-time on-line.

The authors used a 15 item, seven-point scale instrument to measure commitment of a sample of 479 full and part-time faculties at two Midwestern universities. No significant difference in commitment was observed between the four groups.

The results of this study support the notion that for the sample group organizational commitment does not vary significantly between the four groups of faculty members (part-time on-ground, part-time on-line, full-time on-ground and full-time on-line).

Further exploratory analysis using other demographic variables, including age, gender, tenure, and education produced similar findings of no significant difference in commitment. The only significant relationship found in the data is that part-time instructors working full-time for another organization were significantly more committed to the educational institution than those working only part-time.

These findings are not surprising based on the extant literature. As discussed by McGinnis and Morrow (1990), there are many similarities between part-time and full-time instructors. Job responsibilities are similar, many teach because they enjoy the profession, and most work on a preferred schedule. Another reason for this finding is that regardless of employment status, instructors enjoyed working for the institution because of the organizational climate. Many commented in this study that the reason they work for their institution is because they enjoy the people they work with, believe in the organizational mission, and love to work with students.

http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2001/41/

Dear Behrouz,

The article results are very interesting. One of the results supported was that organizational commitment does not vary significantly between the four groups of faculty members (part-time on-ground, part-time on-line, full-time on-ground and full-time on-line). That is a valuable and interesting result that we can build our comments on.

Dear Mahfuz.

Sometimes, young teachers (who work as part-time teachers) have more commitment and enthusiasm, just because they want to get a better position, so they have a higher level of motivation.

Dear Jesus,

Your comment is highly appreciated. It is a good point to say that young teachers, who work as part-time teachers, have more commitment and enthusiasm. The resaon is  just because they want to prove to superiors that they are hardworkers and so they have a higher level of motivation.

Dear Francesca,

Thanks for your thoughtful contribution. It is necessary for each university to have both full-time lecturers and part-time lecturers. In addition to hiring full-timers, university administration should encourage part timers not because of the economical crisis but for the students` benefits and interests.

Dear Mahfuz

well I think it depends on the lecturer himself. (his knowledge, Culture, age, purpose of teaching, available time)

Yes, dear Shafig. It depends on many factors, such as, the lecturer`s personality. honesty, culture, age, and attitudes. 

The honest person is admired by everyone. Universities administration also recruit, and select the part-time lecturers based on abilities, competences, and merits.

I believe also the availability of time is a critical factor in this issue. It can happen that a teacher has a lecture from 9:00 to 9:50 as a full-time in the university s/he works with, and s/he has another lecture from 10:00 to 10:50 as a part-time with some other university.

The distance between the two universities will take not less than 15 minutes. Do we expect that teacher to be enthusiastic in delivering the lecture or to be committed to the students?

Dear Francesca,

Your comments are highly appreciated. Of course, there are pros and cons of part-time lecturers. It is essential for any university to have full-time lecturers, and part-time lecturers, as well.

I have experience of part-time lectures. It was the time, when I taught students in the Academy. I remember my enthusiasm. It was the period of my starting as a teacher. I taught "Ethics" and was a leader of a drama- club. I wanted to cultivate my students not only for our part-time lectures, but also after lecturing.  I wrote scenario of classical masterpieces and we acted out them. We made a success. Then I created poetic club, we participated in "Students' Springs" and won the first places, performing poetic-musical compositions.There were a lot of envious persons from old staff, they couldn't understand, why a young part-time teacher worked with students almost free.Now I have part-time work with adults in the Institute, with kids in Sunday school, and in the commercial courses.I try to encourage my auditory of different ages to love English, cultures, and arts. I love to show IT presentations with the creative activities of my Lyceum students , to inspire them, involving in discussion. I love people of all ages and like to communicate with them.

It does not matter whether part-time or full-time teaching, as long as passionate in teaching, educators behaviour will change towards their objectives and goals.

Brenda, In fact, it is very subjective question, because I have experience taught by part-time lecturers before, some of them really have the same level of commitment and enthusiasm as full time lecturers, even willing to run extra mile to help students, but there also some part-time lecturers only response during the lesson or not fully utilize the hour allocated to teach and guide the students.

However, I believe if the educators have passionate in teaching, he/she will contribute the same level of commitment and enthusiasm as full-time lecturers. On the other hand, if the educators only consider teaching as job or earn for living, the behaviour will be different. 

This is person specific. Often the part time lecturers may be trying to put in their best so as to get a good impression and reward.

In general, it depends to a large extent, on the mental make up of an individual as to whether he feels committed or not irrespective of his status.

I would say this varies from individual to individual. I have come across a few part time faculties in my undergrad. university, which were fully dedicated towards teaching irrespective of less salary. Even, one of those temporary faculty members bagged the best faculty award for 2011 as most of our section students got the highest grade in the university exams. So, it completely depends on the mindset of the faculty. 

Hi Sir.  How do you measure enthusiasm in faculties? Can you share with me please any link for a questionnaire to measure the satisfaction of being faculty?  Thank you!

Dear Cristina,

The following article may be of benefit to you. 

Students' and mathematics teachers' perceptions of teacher enthusiasm and instruction (2008), Mareike Kunter, Yi-Miau Tsai, Uta Klusmann, Martin Brunner, Stefan Krauss, and Ju¨rgen Baumert, Learning and Instruction 18, pp. 468-482. 

I am now out of country and later I will provide you with the link.