A Tenured Faith and an Adjunct Faculty: Successes and Challenges in Instructor Formation at Catholic Colleges That Offer Business Programs in an Accelerated Format

Abstract

Many Catholic colleges in the United States offer Business programs in an accelerated format, featuring evening courses for adult learners, with fewer faculty contact hours than traditional classes. Most of these institutions believe in the ideals of Catholic Social Teaching and wish to integrate those principles into their curricula for the sake of student formation. These same institutions are heavily reliant on adjunct instructors, many of whom have little or no understanding of the basic principles of Catholic social thought. This study attempts to quantify how reliant such institutions are on adjunct instructors for accelerated Business courses, and to suggest some ways that adjunct faculty formation might be undertaken, for better inculcating principles of CST among adult learners.