Adjunct Faculty Onboarding: Is Social Media a Solution?

ABSTRACT

In a pilot study of an affordable and low-maintenance social media solution for adjunct faculty socialization or onboarding at the community college, interested adjuncts were offered the opportunity to participate in a socialmedia-like experience made possible by the Moodle Social wall format plugin. Though qualitative data did not suggest this opportunity supported three socialization constructs (information, ownership, and connectedness), a small subset of adjunct faculty participants expressed excitement about its poten-tial, describing it as a tool facilitating connectedness and information shar-ing in related comments. Practical suggestions are noted related to the design and research of social media interventions.