Adjunct faculty must often balance grading, classroom engagement, administrative, and research responsibilities. University leaders and students' pressures create competing responsibilities and stressors. Constant needs and responsibilities could create adverse effects, but how can adjunct faculty avoid the potential for burnout and cynicism? Adjunct faculty represent a significant percentage of higher education faculty in the United States by providing labor and allowing universities to meet scheduling demands. However, adjunct faculty are considered temporary or contract employees and may not always experience the same benefits or treatment as their full-time counterparts (8,14). Typical uncertainties experienced by adjunct faculty include a lack of job security support, uncertain scheduling, and relationships within the university (8,11).  

Burnout in higher education can lead to lower engagement, productivity, job satisfaction, quality of work, and turnover (6). Burnout occurs because of a persistent mismatch between a person and at least one of the following work characteristics: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. Outcomes of burnout include feelings of depersonalization, such as decreased emotion and a lack of desire to connect. Working with students online may exacerbate the occurrence of depersonalization since minimal face-to-face interaction occurs. Emotional exhaustion may also indicate burnout. Indicators of emotional exhaustion may become apparent when faculty consistently manage challenging situations, effectively draining their emotional reserves such as empathy. A final dimension of burnout is a decrease in personal accomplishment indicated by faculty feeling lower levels of self-esteem and efficacy.

An outcome of burnout is the development of organizational cynicism. The development of organizational cynicism starts with a change, real or perceived, in the employee-employer relationship (1,4). Within the employer-employee relationship, a psychological contract is assumed and addresses both the employee's and employer's expectations (5). The presence of a psychological contract includes perceptions and beliefs that both the employer and an individual employee have agreed to provide a framework for the working relationship.

The perspectives of adjunct faculty may be skewed based on the uncertainties they experience (2,12). As faculty observe the actions and decisions of their university's leadership, a sense of perceived injustice may result and lead to the development of organizational cynicism (3). Adjunct faculty may be susceptible to cynicism and burnout, impacting facilitation practices and the student learning experience at private online universities (7). So, this non-experimental, quantitative correlational study examined the relationships between adjunct faculty burnout, organizational cynicism, and online facilitation performance at the University of Phoenix. At the university, practitioner faculty (adjunct faculty members) support the primary facilitation model. However, as practitioners, they are often employed in a ‘day job’ and have competing responsibilities not only in their practitioner role but also in their faculty role. Based on the commitments and obligations of practitioner faculty, burnout, and organizational cynicism may be significant concerns. Adjunct faculty must be engaged to ensure students' academic success and institutional effectiveness to build collegiality and meaningful connections (13).

A stratified sampling strategy was used to invite 800 adjunct online faculty. One hundred one responses were received (12.6%). The study found that the average burnout levels in the university are much lower than those of other postsecondary teachers  (10). No statistically significant correlation was found between burnout or cynicism and faculty performance, which was not surprising given the low levels of burnout reported. A statistically significant positive correlation existed between personal accomplishment, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and cynicism; as feelings of personal accomplishment increase, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and cynicism decrease. Indeed, the levels of personal accomplishment were high at the University of Phoenix, meaning the faculty overall felt successful and competent in their work (9). There was some variance in personal accomplishment (12%) depending on the college to which the faculty member belongs.

Research Team Members:  Rheanna Reed, DM, Jennifer Carriere, Ph.D., Laura Pipoly, Ed.D., Connie Houser, MSN, RNC, CNE, David Mailloux, MS

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