Contingent faculty in higher education markedly outnumber those considered tenured or on the tenure-track, with about 73% of faculty serving in nontenure-line positions (American Association for University Professors, 2018). The term contingent faculty refers to college and university instructors who may work part-time or otherwise off the tenure-track, and are generally teaching rather than research faculty. In the absence of a collective bargaining agreement or other formalized contract, employers consider contingent faculty as "at-will" or "fixed term contract" employees. Since there are varying levels of protection at different institutions, some contingent faculty face the possibility of being terminated at any time without warning for any reason or, more unsettling, for no reason at all. This essay intends to begin a conversation about the use of and dependency on contingent faculty. To that end, the author outlines some current facts on the use of contingent faculty in higher education, provides a perspective on the contingent faculty experience, laments a void in the communication and instruction literature directly addressing contingent faculty issues, and then provides a set of conversation starters on a beginning set of essential issues.