The Power of Adjuncts: Give Day Bonus Episode

In this special Give Day bonus episode of The Adjunct Files, John sits down with three dedicated FGCU adjunct faculty—Marsha Oenick, Jessica Carter Peer, and Andrew Berkow—to talk openly about their journeys, their challenges, and the powerful community that has formed around adjunct teaching at FGCU.

Together, they reflect on how much has changed:
✨ the creation of adjunct orientation,
✨ the Adjunct Academy,
✨ new mentoring structures,
✨ the adjunct workspace,
✨ stronger communication and support from departments,
✨ and FGCU’s national recognition through the 2025 Delphi Award.

But they also highlight why this moment matters.

FGCU’s new Adjunct Faculty Program Endowment—seeded with the Delphi Award’s $15,000 prize—is just $10,000 away from the $25,000 needed to activate it. With a $5,000 matching challenge and potential Foundation bonuses for donor count, even a small contribution goes a long way.

This endowment will fund:
• mentorship stipends
• conference and professional development opportunities
• initiatives that strengthen belonging and community

Listen in as these instructors share how FGCU changed their teaching, why community and belonging matter, and why your Give Day gift—large or small—helps build a future where adjunct faculty feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.

Give today. Double your impact. Support the educators who shape every Eagle.
Select Fund #10442 on the Give Day page.

https://donate.fgcu.edu/g/lucas-center

Theme music composed, performed and produced by James Husni. 

Adjunct Nation is a collaborative podcast under the auspices of The Lucas Center for Faculty Development at FGCU.  You can learn more by clicking on this link:

https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/

Transcript

Welcome to a special podcast of the adjunct files. It's a give day bonus. And it's just
me here today, John. I'm missing Maggie at the moment. But we were just speaking with
a few different adjunct faculty who have been heavily involved both in the work of
the Lucas Center, the work here at FGC, their own courses, and a passion for seeing adjunct
faculty given a place at the table, I would say. We contribute so much here. And so it's
great to have Marsha Owenek. Can you say hi Marsha? Hi. You can say more than that. My
name is Marsha Owenek. I've been with FGCU since 2015. I've taught seven years for the
chemistry and physics department and have given seminars to the chemistry, a senior seminar
for 10 years. Wow. And then we have Jessica Carter Pierre with us. Hello. Hey, how are you doing
Jessica? And you're an alumni of, right? I am. I'm a double eagle. A double eagle.
Awesome. And you are teaching in? I'm actually teaching in anatomy and physiology.
Anatomy and physiology one. And I'm in the Maribh College of Health and Human Services.
Awesome. And you're a physical therapist. I am. Doctor of Physical Therapy from FGCU.
Awesome. Were you one of the first classes? Not the first classes of a doctorate. It had gone
through a transition from that master's to the doctorate program. But I was blessed to come back
and be in the program and finish as the doctor of physical therapy. Double eagle. Awesome. Hey,
so you've been integral for me. I've been in this position just over a year, 15 months or so now,
as a coordinator for adjunct faculty here. But you've seen it. Maybe Marsha, you've been here
since 2015. Like I myself started adjuncting then. Kind of accidentally thrown into the mix.
Jessica, you've been here since in one form or another since. 2007. Okay. And she started at age
12 in college. Yes. So that's how she's been here. Yeah. And still looks so good.
Yes. Can you tell? The physical therapy. Oh, that's every day. Or physical torture.
Hey, PT is for pain, for modulating the pain. It is not to give pain. So I always say, don't call
us the doctor pain and torture. Okay. Marsha, have you ever had physical therapy? Yes. And I think it's
a wonderful thing to do. And everyone should do it if they need it. Absolutely. Going through it
might not be so much fun, but the other side is good. Anyway, so just tell us what you've seen
and how it's been starting out as an adjunct today and how this endowment for give day that
we're just starting can really benefit. I think the 400 or more adjuncts here who teach 20% of
the coursework. Yes. So I started in 2022 as the lab instructor only. And then as you said,
just having an impact and just being able to go through Lucas Center, being a graduate of that,
you know, the adjunct academy, because again, coming out as a clinician, you just don't know
anything about education, right? And so how do you teach said information that we were taught?
And so that was something that I noticed that there was an immediate impact as an adjunct. And
you know, allowing that to flourish into continuing education. I think we learn, you know, as a
doctor of physical therapy, we have a license. We have to continually educate to stay licensed
in that field. But I think it's great that there are resources that are available to be able to
give back and allow for others to also educate and continue that path and journey.
Marcia, you've been here a little longer as an adjunct. Yeah. And you know, you said the
comment of getting thrown in. Yeah. So I came to do a chemistry seminar and the department had
said, hey, you want to teach? It's like, okay. And at that point, there was very little process,
in my opinion, about how you apply, how you get approval, how you get a contract,
how you get your keys, all of that stuff. I mean, the chemistry department was supportive, but
there was no process. I don't think there was even an orientation for adjunct faculty. No, no,
not at that time. So when the orientation became available, I took it. Heck, you know, I'll find
out stuff that I should have known before. Yeah. And actually it was twofold. One was, you know,
just getting logistically started at the university, but also an introduction to, oh, how you want
it might think about teaching. So that was really the first time anybody had provided me with any
information about how to really be an effective teacher, besides just locking out and helping
what I was doing work. And you worked in industry for a while, prior, right? Up north? Yes, I
worked for, I went to work for Eastman Kodak Company. Yeah. And the division I was part of was
purchased by Johnson & Johnson. So I spent 19 years with Johnson & Johnson. And I wasn't teaching
as part of that, but certainly- Was it mainly research at the time?
So I started as a research scientist, but I got into management leadership,
really leading programs, leading departments, enabling people to, you know, fulfill their potential.
That's really the way I approached that job. So when I came here, it's like, okay, you have
the potential of the students. And, you know, I tell them I want them to be wildly successful.
And this is how we can do it together. If you help me, I'll help you. And I- One of the great
things about being an adjunct really is to be able to bring my experience from industry in terms of
what are you going to need to do to be successful. So although it's general chemistry, one lab,
say the stuff we do in this class is going to benefit you for the rest of your life.
So think about the class in that way. I was just going to say that, that echoes exactly, you know,
what she was mentioning about the leadership and the management and learning about that.
I was blessed to have that scholarship. Well, it was actually through my profession. So
that was one thing, you know, I recognized that having a little bit of just guidance and mentorship
and that sort of thing, even as I was a student here, just recognizing the differences and just
kind of seeing, you know, what the impact is.
We won the Delphi Award this last year and celebrated that in a number of ways.
The award was for a consistent long-term comprehensive overarching approach to how we support.
They call it vital faculty for visiting, instructor line, teaching, adjunct, and lecturer.
Okay. Here at FGCU, our kind of categories are different. We don't have tenure. So
in most institutions, they have tenure and the tenure track is so different from the non-tenure
track. Here, the distinction is really between full-time and adjunct more than anything else.
But what I love about that title vital is because we are. Anyway, so part of the award was $15,000.
We decided to create, I think actually Ed Furticella, one of our wonderful adjunct faculty,
said, let's not just spend it. Why don't we invest it, create an endowment that then we can keep
using year after year for adjunct support. So that's what we've started and we're hoping this
give day and this push here in March will push us over the hurdle that we have to reach, which is
$25,000. We're already at about $21,000, I think, which is great. We can get a lot of matching kind
of like awards through the foundation. They're giving away a couple hundred thousand awards,
especially for a rookie fund like we are. It's just the number of different donors from $10 on
up. That's all it takes. And if we get a lot of different donors to just give us a small amount,
it's the number of donors that will give us potentially another 5,000, which would take us
over the top already. We have a challenge grant of 5,000 that someone anonymously is given and
said, hey, we want you to reach that 25,000. So this 5,000 will get you to 20. Let's get to
25 by having it as a match. So we've matched part of it already, like a thousand bucks worth.
That's a little of the sales pitch. But I just want to hear what you've experienced
in the last few years that has changed. Getting the Delphi Award tells us we've done something right.
Yeah. So I'll jump in. So there is new adjunct orientation that is done twice a year,
which is really important because people like me teach in the spring, but not the fall. So if you
only do things in the fall, then the spring people miss out. But the spring people don't miss out
because the Lucas Center is smart. So it has a great adjunct orientation. The adjunct faculty
handbook, adjunct faculty workspace. So there's a place to land and a place to meet students
besides the bathrooms and ad hoc, you know, and a really nice place to be able to have office hours.
So that was a really big deal, I think, to actually get the university to commit space because space
is precious. And you remember, you were helping us advocate for that to the previous provost to
say, look, we got to do this. It only took what? Four years, but we got it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's
great space. Yeah, it is. And actually from my experience, I actually walked through that,
what you're talking about, the changes. I went on online adjunct orientation. That was my first step
as an adjunct. And then to see it lay out in its process, I mean, it really helped me connect.
And I'll share that because it was something that I was new to, I guess, even just, I didn't know
it was going to be a professor or adjunct, you know, member. But it helped the process as that
experience. So I was sharing like a little bit of feedback going through that. Yeah. And the
the newsletter that you put out, John, that keeps everybody apprised of critical stuff that we might
not hear from our departments. Then really important as new things have been coming in, simple syllabus,
ADA compliance requirements. A plus plus attendance. All that stuff. Workday. And I'll
hear all the stuff you need to do. Knowing about that and not because you want to be a compliant
employee. And you want to understand all these emails you're getting about this, that and the
other thing. That's been a really big deal, I think. Think for me, one of the things that really
I wanted to help create, and I think we've started creating, is a sense of community. I feel, at least
when I started a bit like a nomad on this campus, just kind of wandering in you as an adjunct without
the space, without a place at the table in some ways. I mean, I didn't realize my department was
so welcoming, but it was just there wasn't as much communication. So I was always afraid to talk
because I thought I was taking up their time and they're so busy and all this stuff. Now I know,
oh my gosh, these people, yeah, they appreciate what we're doing, because we're helping them
in so many ways. But at the time you feel like you're on your own, you might be teaching odd hours,
a lot of full-time workers, professions, and then come in at night when offices are closed. But the
sense of you're in this with others, I think the Lucas Center really tries to create community,
and kind of that culture of welcome and belonging. It makes a huge difference, I believe. Y'all
sure aren't doing it for the pay. I mean, right? It's not the... That's not the reward. No, the
existence side of things, the amount of work for the amount of pay doesn't make a lot of sense.
But the relatedness and maybe the professional growth opportunities, and that's what I think
we've tried to do the most with.
Why would you advocate or encourage people to consider the Lucas Center, Agile faculty
endowment, and giving to it? Agile's, in my view, are minimally paid volunteers.
So having an endowment that might be able to fund different kinds of opportunities for growth
enable more time for the Agile's to give to the university through mentorship programs,
if there was a small stipend, that would make a huge difference. I would echo that. I mean,
as someone who works in the field as a clinician, but like you said, time away from other things,
like family or other things that are important in a young professional life.
So the endowment is set up to do things that we cannot do right now, or we do not do right now.
So for mentorship, like you mentioned that, Marsha, we can ask for volunteers, but we have no
way to say, hey, we would like to honor you. It's going to be a stipend, but at least we're
showing respect for the time and the expertise you're going to pour into other adjunct faculty
and give a stipend for different people to mentor the new adjuncts. Can you imagine? I never had,
did you have a mentor to look to when you were starting in 2015?
I was lucky because there's many sections of this. So there was a coordinator that was
great, and I had a, and was very supportive, but figuring out how to do stuff was still.
How do I put my grades in? Why do I need to take attendance? Should I take attendance?
Oh, there's a legal reason I need to take attendance. That would have been nice to know.
I lucked into having that kind of information. So having continued access to
people who can help you through is critical. I would say there's definitely a connectivity
at the Mirab College in Health. In terms of between the adjuncts and... In terms of
open door, like if there's something that you can go and ask and all of those things,
I guess maybe even still from the experience of being the student in that building,
going through the doorway of just asking questions. I think if we can ask the good questions,
it will drive change in that way. I think, yeah, when we start to ask a lot of
arising questions. And maybe this is putting somebody kind of in the spotlight, but I think
if I recall, we did a podcast with Nikki Kala. And she was an adjunct when she started here.
And now she's helping this whole... She's our course coordinating. And so I think she has this
sensitivity to an understanding of people like you, Jessica, who are full-time professionals,
who are also then going to teach these courses, whether it's the lab or the lecture. And so she's
going to make sure it works. And I don't think that's true everywhere yet. We're going to try to
keep working on that. But the mentorship, I think, will be really helpful.
So stipends for mentors. Actually stipends for adjuncts to expand programs.
Yes, of course. Yeah.
You know, to create new courses.
Yeah, come up with an idea that's new that could change.
There is no pay or compensation for creating a new course. And yeah, it's a lot of work up front.
And I think if there were some small stipends to enable that sort of thing to happen,
the amount of new stuff that happened would be significant.
It could be expanded.
And would show the university in general that, hey, you know, if we pay a little more,
if we offer some different kinds of positions, adjunct positions, we could get a lot more
done since we're snowing. Never going to pay them as much as they are worth. But to have more
positions than just the... Well, Marsha, you're priceless.
And then the professional development, to be able to have them attend conferences that would be
more pedagogical in nature or whatever, it'd be great to be able to.
Because I don't think in departments, most departments don't have any funding right now
for adjuncts to do any of that. That's what this fund is for.
And the more that we receive, the more we're able to then use each year.
And the more we'll be able to expand some of those offerings.
Well, great. We just got another guest here, another wonderful adjunct faculty member, Andrew Burko.
How are you doing, Andrew? I'm doing very well. Thank you.
How are your students doing after that exam? Well, actually, they did very well on today's exam.
Oh, good. Jessica, you'll be pleased to know.
Yeah, these two work together, right? We do. Jessica is one of my lab instructors.
Well, Andrew, Marsha, Jessica, and I have been chatting away about just all the changes that
have happened over the years here. Marsha was here since 2015 as an adjunct instructor.
Jessica was here a little earlier, but as a student. And you've been an adjunct instructor since 2022.
2022. Yeah, Andrew, how long have you been here?
About four years. Okay. Yeah. He's a retired physician, not real retired, but just maybe tired.
Some days. What have you noticed? As far as with the Lucas Center, with what's been going on for
adjunct faculty and why you already did a video that we've sent out on just supporting Forgive Day,
but tell us what you think. Well, I've participated in the Lucas Center adjunct academy. That's true.
And that was very helpful in teaching me who had never had any classes in education.
A little bit about how to teach. Yeah. Having been through school for 20 some odd years,
you kind of picked things up and maybe learned how teachers who teach well teach, how teachers
who teach poorly teach. And we can then adapt that to how we teach. But the Lucas Center class was
very helpful to me. What do you hope with this endowment? Any thoughts on that?
Well, I'm hoping if it gets large enough that we can use it as an incentivizing method for adjuncts,
perhaps to do more or to recognize outstanding adjuncts. Yeah. Yeah. Or have an adjunct
in each department recognized? Yeah, there's lots of possibilities. It depends how big it gets.
We know we want to do it for mentoring. So some of you are mentoring others now.
And we want to be able to say thank you for doing that and give a stipend for mentoring new adjuncts
for professional development. One of the other things I look at it as a way to pay it forward.
All of us have been through educational systems and been taught by others.
All of our lives, all of our careers. And when we can pay that back is by contributing to a fund
like this that will help support newer faculty members. Yeah, I agree. I think we're going to get
there. We're almost there already to at least the $25,000 mark. Okay. So, but if we can get it a lot
higher, it can do a lot more. Andrew, do you have anything else outside of the academy itself?
Well, just the possibility of adjunct representation in the faculty senate is a
big stride forward. It means that the faculty, the full-time faculty, recognize that we do have
some value. Yeah, to have our voice heard is just going to be, it's an important feature. I think
Marsha, you said the more you include people, the more you can can do.
The other thing I've noticed since I came on board is that the orientation for adjuncts,
which didn't exist when I came on board, it was here's your syllabus, go and teach.
I think that's a big step forward. The three of you have been very vital actually over the last
few years as part of our advisory board. It's not just somebody from the top somewhere decides,
oh, this is what adjuncts need. We have an advisory board of adjunct faculty across the university
who help inform and set the policy and kind of the focus and the direction of what's going on here.
And it's been a real value and a great support group for me. And I think for the Lucas Center.
Well, thank you for listening. Thanks for considering the adjunct faculty endowment and the vital role
adjuncts are playing across this university and lives of the students. Well, we hope we have a great
gift day. Thank you. Bye bye.
The music for adjunct nation was composed performed and produced by James Husney.