Adjunct faculty roles offer flexibility and purpose

SFCC encourages community members to consider teaching as adjunct faculty members to help enrich the lives of SFCC students–and their own. Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Ivan Lopez Hurtado, Ph.D., said, “Santa Fe and the surrounding regions are rich with incredibly talented professionals—artists, engineers, healthcare workers, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, and educators—who carry deep knowledge and lived experience. Teaching as an adjunct faculty member is a powerful way to share that expertise, mentor the next generation, and give back to the community that shaped them.”

Adjunct faculty positions are highly flexible, making them an excellent option for working professionals, retirees and those exploring teaching for the first time. Options may include opportunities to teach in person, live online, or asynchronous online classes. Some teaching options are available in the evenings or weekends. Lopez Hurtado said, “This flexibility allows adjunct faculty to balance teaching with professional work, family commitments, or other pursuits while still making a meaningful impact on students’ lives.”

SFCC makes sure adjuncts feel welcomed, prepared and supported through orientation and onboarding resources tailored for adjunct faculty, professional development opportunities and institutional technology support. Learn more and apply for SFCC Adjunct Opportunities.

Inside SFCC reached out to several adjunct faculty members via email to find out about their varied professional experiences as well as the rewards of teaching. Read the following highlights from their responses.

Bruce Gagnon, Ph.D., psychology

Bruce Gagnon, Ph.D, brings more than 36 years of teaching expertise to SFCC. He began teaching at SFCC in 1995 and became a full-time Associate Professor of Psychology in 2000. Gagnon developed SFCC’s Associate of Arts in Psychology in 2007. He later served as a department chair and as a dean. He was one of the first in the department to teach online. Through the years Gagnon said he has perfected the art and science of online delivery. He now teaches online as an adjunct faculty member.

Gagnon said, “Years in the classroom have taught me to recognize patterns in learning, anticipate confusion, and respond with patience rather than urgency. I am better able to create a space where students feel safe to question, reflect, and take intellectual risks—even online. With time, I have learned to focus on what students carry forward beyond the course—critical thinking, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of themselves as learners. My experience allows me to balance high expectations with empathy, helping students grow not only academically, but personally.”

Gagnon welcomes student feedback. The responses are overwhelmingly positive, such as this response: “I learned so much through your course material in such little time and have implemented much of these findings in my daily life, which I will be forever grateful for!”

Gagnon said, “My experiences at SFCC have shaped my personal and professional persona, and quite simply—made me the successful, seasoned educator I have become.” He added, “I have learned so much about my students over the years and have especially enjoyed the variety of students that flow through classes at SFCC: first-generation students; adult learners; low and high-achieving students in crisis; students who didn’t know yet that they belonged; nonnative speakers; students as young as 13 and as old as 81.”

He added that many of his students have gone on to four-year institutions and earned master’s, bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. Several of his former students now teach at SFCC.

Montessa M. Valdez, BSN RN, adjunct faculty in nursing

Montessa M. Valdez, who teaches primarily in person, is in her third year teaching the Nursing Assistant courses and has taught and aided in the development of the Medical Assistant IV Therapy course. She has a passion for “knowledge sharing.” Valdez said, “I am passionate about evidence-based practice, and possess the talents of making learning fun, interesting, easily understandable and purposeful.”

Valdez, who earned an associate degree from SFCC and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from New Mexico Highlands University, has been a registered nurse for 19 years. Her specialty in nursing lies primarily in maternal/fetal/newborn health, where she started as a labor and delivery nurse. Thirteen years of her labor and delivery nursing career were in nursing leadership (eight years as a labor and delivery clinical nurse supervisor and five years as the labor and delivery Nurse Manager. Her career has provided many other nursing experiences. In addition to teaching at SFCC, she currently works full-time as a perinatal maternal/fetal medicine nurse for a local perinatal high-risk obstetric practice.

Valdez said, “My profession has allowed me to educate and mentor professional peers on obstetric competency skills, new process development, policies, mock skills and OB emergency training. I have developed obstetrics-focused process improvement projects and nationally-required safety measures to improve patient outcomes, which have helped to decrease maternal morbidity and mortality amongst perinatal populations.

“My favorite parts of my nursing profession were welcoming new life every day, helping families through challenging moments, working as a team and having opportunities to “knowledge share” with patients and colleagues alike.”

Valdez enjoys sharing her experiences with students. “My nursing experience helps students become more knowledgeable by assisting them to understand the importance of extraordinary nursing practices, exceptional patient safety care standards, importance of evidence-based practices in healthcare, a passion for continued lifelong personal and professional growth, and implementing strong patient advocacy skills in a purposeful, meaningful and life-changing profession.”

Teaching has also impacted her. She said, “I have gained a tremendous sense of belonging, purpose and meaningful connections while contributing to my community, the profession of nursing and health care. I gained the development of professional relationships with my students and have learned that teaching is a lifelong commitment to mentoring, inspiring and cheering them on in their personal and professional endeavors. I have gained profound knowledge and insight from every student, which has only grown my passion for “knowledge sharing” and “knowledge receiving” alike.

She’s inspired by students’ feedback. She said, “Students tell me that I make learning easy, fun and they cannot wait for class every week to learn more and do more. My students have shared that I am patient, inspiring, supportive, and spark a passion that drives them to be the best that they can be and to believe in themselves.”

Adrian Dolinay, statistics instructor

Adrian Dolinay started a YouTube channel in 2020 to create videos on various STEM topics including computer science, math, statistics and programming. He said, “I really enjoyed helping people with their technical questions and that led me to apply for an adjunct position last year.” He teaches Introduction to Statistics.

Dolinay, who has worked in finance, data science and statistical modeling, said he enjoys sharing real world examples. He wants students to recognize why the study of statistics is important for everyone. Many of his students are studying to become medical professionals. An example he shares is framed around the life of the nurse Florence Nightingale, recognized as the founder of modern nursing.

Dolinay said, “She was a nurse during the Crimean War, one of the first wars with modern weaponry. She noticed the awful condition French and German Soldiers had to put up with in the medical tents. Through her data collection and visualization, she showed that far more Soldiers died of preventable diseases than from direct combat wounds. Being able to tell a story and bridge the gap between statistics and each student’s interest is a core focus when I teach.”

As an adjunct faculty member, he has taught in person, synchronously online and currently teaches asynchronously. Dolinay said teaching has sharpened his communication skills. He said he’s learned that reaching out to students more often about how they felt about the class and the material significantly boosted their confidence. He finds it rewarding when his students can understand the material, pass the course and be able to apply what they’ve learned in their lives.