Lisa Butler has been a sociology professor at St. Charles Community College for five years and is limited in the number of credit hours she can teach a year. She teaches three courses at Maryville University and three at the community college, and makes about $30,000 a year.

“For me, teaching is what I want to do full time,” she said. “The reality is, full-time faculty positions aren’t available.”

She said big concerns included pay level and lack of security on the job. The adjuncts also don’t have benefits or retirement plans, she said. “I think for us, what we really want is just an ability to be heard,” Butler said. “We don’t really have a lot of rights as adjuncts. We don’t have a place with a lot of safety and security where we can go with any concerns.”

College administrators hire adjunct professors because they don’t cost much, and they can fill in when full-time faculty have full course loads. There are about 4,000 adjuncts working in the St. Louis area, and it’s common for them to make about $20,000 a year or less, even with those who have full course loads, people who watch the industry say.