In response to a growing need for teachers to fill classrooms, Santa Fe College hosted one of its first job fairs to recruit adjunct professors.
About 70 people attended the first day of the fair Tuesday — mostly local professionals and retirees, like Gainesville resident John Gregory.
Gregory, formerly a high school math teacher and UF professor, said he’s turning to SFC because he wants to teach again, but the responsibilities of an adjunct professor are a better fit for his retirement lifestyle.
“I miss it,” Gregory said. “I really do.”
SFC Human Resources Director Lela Frye said the turnout for the first job fair was overwhelming.
Usually, she said, the recruiting process is handled online, but because the college needed a large number of candidates at one time, the college’s administration decided to try a new approach.
Naima Cherie Brown, the interim vice president of student affairs and a representative for the student development instruction department, said most adjunct professors already have a job or aim to teach full time in the future.
“These are professional people looking to help the community, engage with some students and make some cash,” Brown said.
Roger K. Strickland, an SFC business professor, said the need for adjunct faculty is growing because the college has added bachelor’s degree programs, which means more classes that need teachers.
Strickland said because adjunct faculty members tend to use the position for supplemental income, they also tend to move on after a few years.
“We get the benefit of having somebody that is really well-educated and a great instructor for at least a couple of years, but then, they move and we have to replace them,” Strickland said.
