Adjunct Role Overview

The CLS department is indebted to the efforts of you and your colleagues who teach here in addition to your “regular” jobs. The professional expertise you bring to the classroom helps our students to connect the theories, issues, and policies they learn about with experience in the field.  

Most adjunct professors teach one course per semester. Classes generally meet either once a week for 160 minutes or twice a week for 75 minutes each session. If your course is in the former category, it is recommended you give the students a 5 or 10-minute break in the middle of class to stretch, etc.    

All faculty are required to make themselves available to students for course consultation. Common practice is that faculty schedule one office hour per week per course, to be held in-person or on Zoom. Given the constricted schedules of our students and instructors, it is often more convenient for part-time faculty to schedule office hours immediately before or after class, or by appointment. Meeting times or office hours should be clearly stated in the course syllabus.  

All written communication with students, faculty, and staff must be done using your George Mason email address. This is essential for adhering to FERPA compliance standards. You are expected to maintain access to your George Mason account by keeping up with all required training and password resets as appropriate.