Work in Progress: The Contribution of an Adjunct Faculty in Addressing the Practice in a Geotechnical Engineering Class

The paper examines the status quo of adjunct faculty in engineering institutions and argues for the positive contributions adjuncts could make by bringing their practical experience into the classroom; and also in setting up linkages with industry. Unfortunately, adjuncts are marginalized by the academic systems in place today; and their contributions to the academic process are undervalued. Next, the paper reports on the success story of an adjunct, a practitioner with good credentials, who "teamed-up" with a "full-time" faculty, in an attempt to bring the practice to 4th year students in a geotechnical/foundation engineering class. The success achieved in meeting course objectives, was attributed to proper planning and the effectiveness of the adjunct in the delivery of "practice-related" material. The positive outcome of this experience has encouraged other faculty members to search for practitioners - as adjuncts - to assist in bringing the practice into the classroom, in partnership with "full-time" faculty