They ranged from 25-year veterans to first-time college instructors.
“For some, it’s their first time here,” said College of Education Faculty Chair Dr. Alicia Kozimor of adjunct professors at a recent Grand Canyon University College of Education Fall Adjunct Conference.
It’s also the first time COE has held the conference for adjunct professors, while full-timers had a conference the week before.
“We are welcoming adjuncts to campus to create community,” Kozimor said of the approximately 250 who registered to attend in-person or online. “Our adjuncts need to feel they are connected, get a feel for leadership and get the year started.”
They came from locations nearby or far-flung.
No one was happier to be on campus than Cathryn Warren of Lucedale, Mississippi. She is a new adjunct who teaches early childhood special education courses online. In March 2023, Warren told her story to GCU News of how, as a then-instructional assistant, she learned the grace and love of her COE colleagues as she endured two miscarriages.
At her side Tuesday was one who showed significant grace, assistant professor Jillian Hartman.
“Have you seen the pictures?” Hartman asked. “They are adorable.”
Fourteen months ago, Warren gave birth to twin daughters, and the department celebrated.
Warren wanted to come to the conference to see the faces of people she has worked with from all over the country and supported her through tough times, not to mention absorb the Welcome Week energy of students and parents moving on campus.
“Coming (to GCU) in person is rejuvenating in a sense because it renews and reinforces my ‘why,’ which is ultimately to help our students succeed,” she said.
Adjuncts learned information on the college’s goals and accomplishments but also on teaching methods, character education, Christian worldview, civil discourse and other topics.
But it was a pep talk from COE Dean Dr. Meredith Critchfield that got the conference off to a buzzing start. Each year, the college picks one Bible verse to guide them through the academic year. This year:
“Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic. Be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord” – Romans 12-11
Critchfield said that in talking to faculty, the word that kept coming up was “passion,” a desire to bring more of it to teaching to help students.
“So what I ask for all of us this year is be on fire. We know that teacher preparation and K-12 education is facing a contentious time. It’s complicated, it’s political, it’s layered. But if we continue to focus on serving our students and serving the Lord we can’t go wrong,” she said.
COE has graduated more than 80,000 students in the last 15 years, and school administrators who have hired them tell Critchfield that those Lopes are “fundamentally different.”
“I know why. Because all of you pour into them in ways that go beyond their assignments. You are interested in their character, you are interested in virtue development, you are interested in who they are as humans,” she said.
It’s that quantity and quality that goes beyond just doing a job, per the year’s verse.
“It specifically says be on fire. Have passion for what you do,” she said. “Because if we don’t have that we are doing a disservice. We are doing a disservice to everyone that we serve if we don’t have the passion and that fire every single day.
“I ask all you now. What is your ‘why?’ Why do you serve our students and candidates the way you do? Think about that ‘why’ and then be on fire.”
COE acknowledged two faculty members who have shown that fire. Jackie Pelegrin won the online adjunct award for leading and serving, and Demi Skinner won the ground adjunct faculty award.
“I feel like I am passionate about everything I do,” said Skinner, of Anthem. “I was always told never be lukewarm in anything you do. Like they talked about, always be on fire.
“I feel like I brought new, innovative methods while teaching my students. Not just cookie cutter style but out of the box; they were always up and moving … I try to bring in peers from the field to share information or have students go out into the classroom, and I continue to mentor them even out of class. I’ve even had one student come to my church.
“I’m into it. I’m all in.”
And that’s what this conference was all about.
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
***
Related content:
GCU News: A woman’s grief turns to celebration with GCU colleagues