| Adjuncts continue to be an integral part of higher education; however, they are rarely onboarded
at higher education institutions. Onboarding involves systematically introducing a new employee
to an organization’s values, processes, and procedures. For adjuncts, they also need formalized
training in pedagogy. Without onboarding adjuncts, higher education is putting new adjuncts at a
disadvantage. This study used the design thinking instructional design model as a framework to
evaluate a newly proposed adjunct onboarding plan at one rural community college. The needs
analysis and creation of the onboarding plan were completed prior to the commencement of this
study, and the sole focus of this study entailed evaluating the proposed adjunct onboarding plan.
During the evaluation of the plan, campus stakeholders were asked about their thoughts and
perceptions of the newly proposed plan and what changes need to be made so the plan will be
usable and sustainable. The overall perception of the plan among stakeholders was positive, but
some changes needed to be made.
Keywords: adjuncts, onboarding, adjunct onboarding, design thinking, evaluation, onboarding
plan |