This webinar highlights innovative practices and lessons learned from institutional change initiatives designed to recognize and support of VITAL (visiting, instructor, temporary, adjunct, and lecturer) faculty.
Campus leaders from Montclair State University and Florida Gulf Coast University—recipients of the 2025 Delphi Award—will discuss the policies, practices, and programs their institutions have implemented to strengthen the recognition, status, and participation of VITAL faculty across campus.
Participants will gain insight into the core principles guiding this work, implementation challenges encountered along the way, and practical lessons that other institutions can apply to better support VITAL faculty as essential educators.
Presenters
K.C. Culver
Associate Director of the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student SuccessUniversity of Alabama
Courtney Crimmins
Faculty Developer and Adjunct Liaison for the Office for Faculty ExcellenceMontclair State University
Kimberly Fournier
Associate Director of the Lucas Center for Faculty Development and Associate Professor of Rehabilitation SciencesFlorida Gulf Coast University
Emily Isaacs
Senior Associate Provost for Faculty AffairsMontclair State University
Catherine Keohane
Director of Faculty Development for the Office for Faculty ExcellenceMontclair State University
John Roth
Coordinator of Adjunct Faculty for the Lucas Center for Faculty Development and Adjunct Faculty in Religious StudiesFlorida Gulf Coast University
Kaleigh Stokes
Coordinator II for the Lucas Center for Faculty DevelopmentFlorida Gulf Coast University
Moderators
Ashley Finley
Vice President for Research and Senior Advisor to the PresidentAAC&U
Adrianna Kezar
Director for the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student SuccessUniversity of Southern California
About the Delphi Award
The annual Delphi Award, presented by the University of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education and AAC&U, gives a $15,000 cash award to two universities annually that support VITAL (also known as contingent) faculty in pursuing strategic priorities such as student learning and community engagement. The Delphi Award is generously sponsored by the OneHE and Adjunctions.