The college seems less focused on students and staff, then on the mighty dollar. Significant layoffs have taken place, (probably 5 rounds this year that I know about), leaving people without the experience necessary to be successful to fill the voids created. The college handled the layoffs very poorly: communicating the changes very poorly to the "survivors" and those affected, and poorly communicating the state of the college. Thus demonstrating that those who can't do business well, do actually teach it. Clearly those in leadership positions are not business savvy. Baker has been a case study in "what not to do".
Additionally some of the college's pay practices have been sketchy at best, encouraging employees to do professional development directly related to their work for the college without pay, or reducing rates of pay without advance notice.
Baker also does a terrible job preparing the faculty for their roles, making decisions regarding what you will be teaching at the last minute, and making books and resources for the class available too late to be properly prepared. In many cases the UBD (Understanding By Design) courses are designed by people who are not in the field and are clearly not subject matter experts. In addition to having poor content, the UBD restricts the instructor's ability to present relevant material that would actually prepare the students for their future. New faculty is poorly trained on internal systems (Blackboard, APA format, etc.) and resources to help them in their new position. I always feel bad for students who have a new instructor who is struggling to figure things out. They pay for the full class, but clearly don't get the full educational experience.
Historically Baker was very proud that the adjunct faculty were working professionals. They did a fantastic job preparing students. Our current direction is making Baker a joke, and the unprepared students are damaging the long-standing reputation.
There really isn't room to grow for adjunct faculty. Number of classes available to teach are restricted (due to both union concerns, and ACA restrictions to the number of hours to be benefit eligible). You really don't have much of a voice or any freedom in what to cover for the term or how to teach. At this point Baker should either set up the "checkout counter" and handout degrees to anyone who can pay, or sell prerecorded videos of lectures. Either would be as effective at preparing graduates as the current trend.
