Adjunct Faculty Basics

Adjunct faculty are part-time employees of the department, hired to teach English (ENGL) or UW (WRTG) classes as needed on a semester-by-semester basis. This means that adjunct faculty must sign a contract each semester.

All contracts are sent and signed via Workday. You'll receive an email to let you know to log in to Workday and accept the contract. If you teach a class that begins or goes after 4 pm or is Online, a separate contract for those sections is issued, also via Workday. (Daytime, Evening, and Online sections are paid at the same rate.)

BYU limits part-time employment to 28 hours per week. Because the university equates a 3-credit course to 8 hours/week, adjunct faculty are eligible to teach up to 3 classes a semester (3 classes = 24 hours). During spring or summer terms, they may teach one 3-credit course (equivalent to 16 hours/week). How many classes an adjunct faculty is assigned each semester is determined by (1) the department’s needs and (2) adjunct faculty member’s availability and class-load preference. (See Scheduling below for more information.)

Three things to keep in mind:

• You must teach at least one class per calendar year to be considered an active employee for that particular class. If you take a year (or more) off, you must reapply for that class.
• If you plan to take a semester off, let the department’s business manager or UW coordinator know ASAP. Also let them know when you plan to return. 
• The department has the right to cancel classes with low enrollments. Several things are taken into consideration before canceling: type of course, available alternatives for the students and instructor, and timing relative to add/drop deadline. If you have concerns about low enrollment and possible class cancellation, contact the department (ENGL classes) or UW (WRTG classes).

In addition to the department’s needs, adjunct faculty’s contracts are dependent on clearance from the Ecclesiastical Clearance Office (ECO). Each year the ECO contacts bishops to ensure that all BYU employees who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold and are worthy to hold a current temple recommend.

We encourage you to keep your recommend current so it doesn’t impact your employment—set a reminder on your calendar to renew your recommend and turn on Temple Recommend Reminder under Settings on your LDS Tools app.

Your compensation is based on your level of degree, prior teaching experience at other universities, and how many classes you’ve taught for the department.

Here is the current compensation paid for each three-credit class taught in a semester or term (2025-26):

Master Degree Pay Rate

Doctorate Degree Pay Rate

You will be paid via direct deposit to your bank account on the last day of each month.

Occasionally adjunct faculty may be asked to teach a course with an increased class size to accommodate student demand or department needs. If this happens, adjunct faculty will be paid an additional stipend on a case-by-case basis.

Creating a schedule for over 300 ENGL and WRTG sections each semester takes time. For adjunct faculty, this means schedules and the number of classes adjunct faculty are assigned to teach vary from semester to semester.

Here’s how the scheduling process generally goes:

• About two months before each semester (or term), UW staff sends adjunct faculty a link to a Google form asking for scheduling preferences: What courses would you like to teach? How many sections would you like to teach? What days and times are you available? Have you been assigned to teach a ENGL class? 
• After scheduling full-time faculty and grad students, the department and UW start assigning adjunct faculty to ENGL and WRTG classes.
• Once the schedule is set, UW staff emails adjunct faculty, letting them know teaching schedules have been posted to AIM.

More to know about scheduling

• When scheduling adjunct faculty, adjunct faculty who can teach three sections are scheduled first.
• Adjunct faculty who can teach more than one course have a better chance of getting a schedule they prefer because there are more options when assigning classes.
• Instructors’ names are only posted after all classes have been assigned an instructor.

During a typical semester, adjunct faculty teach half of the first-year writing classes (grad students and full-time faculty teach the other half), nearly 70% of advanced writing classes, and a smattering of ENGL classes.

What you’re about to read is a quick overview of the courses adjunct faculty typically teach. For more details about course objectives and required assignments for the course listed, refer to the BYU course catalog and/or contact the course coordinator. (You can find course coordinator information on the Adjunct Faculty Commons > People to Know page.)

Also, if you’re interested in teaching an ENGL or advanced writing course, check out Adjunct Faculty Commons > Professional Development > “Course Training” for more information.

WRTG 150: Writing and Rhetoric

Most adjunct faculty start at BYU teaching WRTG 150: Writing and Rhetoric. UW offers over 100 sections of WRTG 150 every semester.

Advanced Writing

After teaching WRTG 150 for a while, many adjunct faculty choose to train to teach one (or more) of UW’s five advanced writing courses that most students are required to take:

• WRTG 311: Writing about the Arts and Humanities
• WRTG 312: Persuasive Writing
• WRTG 313: Advanced Writing for Educators
• WRTG 315: Writing in the Social Sciences
• WRTG 316: Technical Communication

Every semester UW offers over 75 sections of advanced writing, with WRTG 312 and WRTG 316 making up the majority of courses offered. Significantly fewer sections of WRTG 311, 313, and 315 are offered.

ENGL Courses

Occasionally the department needs adjunct faculty to teach 200-level ENGL courses if full-time faculty aren’t available. These are the ENGL courses occasionally taught by adjunct faculty:

• ENGL 201: Masterpieces of World Literature 1
• ENGL 202: Masterpieces of World Literature 2
• ENGL 211: Rhetoric and Civilization 1
• ENGL 212: Rhetoric and Civilization 2
• ENGL 218: Introduction to Creative Writing
• ENGL 230: Studies in Literature
• ENGL 232: Shakespeare
• ENGL 235: Studies in American Literature
• ENGL 236: Studies in British Literature
• ENGL 238: The Bible as Literature
• ENGL 268: Literature of the Latter-day Saints