The purpose of this statement is to help you as a faculty member—adjunct, contingent, contracted, tenure-track—who are new to an institution be successful in a new position. It seeks to provide guidance in navigating your new institution’s policies and practices so that you and your colleagues and administrators may create the “reasonable and equitable working conditions” that the CCCC’s Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing (2015) states are necessary for “sound writing instruction.” This statement offers insights into the kinds of questions you may wish to ask, covering areas such as the basic conditions of your employment; expectations and opportunities for administrative work; and conditions for promotion, reappointment, and/or rehiring. Depending on institutional context, you may ask these questions to individuals such as program director, department chair, dean, mentors, seasoned colleagues, etc.
This document works in conjunction with two other CCCC position statements: the Statement of Best Practices in Faculty Hiring in Rhetoric and Composition Studies (2016) as well as the Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing (2015), especially the information in principle number eleven, “Sound writing instruction is provided by instructors with reasonable and equitable working conditions.”
Read the full statement, Statement of Professional Guidance for New Faculty Members (1987, Revised November 2015, Revised November 2022)
