If there were ever a time in my college teaching career that I needed Spring Break, this was that year. Unfortunately, the breaks for my two schools did not align this term and I just had a lighter teaching load for two weeks. I also had a bad cold followed by the flu and those compounded by a recurrent health condition I've had since a child. If I had a dollar for every person who told me to get to the doctor, I could've afforded to actually GO to the doctor!
Here in the United States we recently hit the deadline to enroll in the ACA, or Affordable Care Act---known to many of us as the Not So Affordable Care Act. A couple of other adjuncts, both in person and on-line discussed with me their frustrations about not being able to enroll. Most of them work at more than one school. Some of the schools, like my School Two, explicitly will not give us adjuncts more than nine credit hours per term to avoid the new government requirement to provide full time employees healthcare. I suppose since in America that corporations are people, and often more valued than the actual people living in America, they can get away with this. Therefore, though I work more than a full time person, I have no healthcare covered by my employers--School One cut our hours to avoid having to convert any of us to full time permanent employees due to our long term work histories (this was told to us out loud and in person, it was not related to ACA avoidance as some presume). This made our once affordable coverage coming from living wage checks impossible to afford on our drastically reduced pay.
Like my adjunct colleagues, I enthusiastically checked into the ACA early on. Though it is somewhat situation-based, the lowest price plan has horrendously high deductibles. The second one was too much a month. The next one up was absurdly too much. Other folks like me had the same basic assessment. To make matters worse, many states including the one in which I live, refused to expand low income programs, thus leaving a big gap between who gets coverage by the state and those who can afford to pay for their own. A great deal of adjuncts are caught in that gap.
However, onward we drag ourselves to get to work. I worry about canceling classes at either place, unwilling to be seen as someone neglecting my duties. I don't want to give any place any reason to fire me. The fact that I speak up for adjunct issues is probably enough to land me on some sort of hit list, if anyone has been paying attention. Additionally, one of my classes only meets once a week and to call that off would be a nightmare to reschedule and still get the students all they need for the term. The very worst part has been my severely reduced lack of energy. Energy is a valuable commodity when teaching five writing-heavy classes at two schools 58 miles apart!
During this time I calculated midterm grades for around 97 students and graded approximately 327 papers. This doesn't count quizzes and small in-class work. I still have a backlog of about forty rewrites and some on-line discussions to score. I hope to finally get these off my conscious this weekend. I do not like hold work more than two weeks, but I found myself forced to prioritize those assignments needed to continue other projects and let these sort of terminal ones wait. It bothers me anyway. It isn't doing my usual best. At one of the schools for certain there is a question on the end of term survey that asks about my promptness in returning work: I will get hammered on that, and rightly so. It isn't like me to be so sick or slow. There's some shame in that.
I hope to get back to my regular posting schedule. I've missed this and there have been strange and not always wondrous developments to report.
Now, it's time to sleep.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
My Apologies
The Unarmed Education Mercenary apologizes for her lack of posts. This is the beginning the fourth week of some illness that will not let go.
Hopefully this coming week will be better. Hang in there, adjuncts.
I haven't forgotten you, given up the fight, or been silenced. I've just been very sick.
-TUEM
Monday, March 3, 2014
Tough Questions Parents and Students [potential customers *cringe*] Should Ask Potential Colleges
At a banquet for my elder son's high school band this past weekend, many of the other parents at my table were the proud moms and dads of seniors or juniors. This particular son who I was there with is still two years from graduation. I listened to these parents discuss the trials and tribulations of multitudinous campus visits, logistics, choosing majors, and all the senior activities still to come in the school year. As I kept my smaller child from either forking himself or me in the eye and also occupied for the program, I considered some thoughts I have on the choosing a college process as it relates to the best interest of students and getting the best education for their parents' or their own money. I will probably be the most unwelcome prospective parent on several campuses in a few years!
A cursory look at several websites with handy--and some not so handy but instead rather lengthy--lists revealed that the list-makers consider things like difficulty of classes, roommates, safety, and food to be the biggest concerns.
Several lists suggested asking who teaches first-year courses, but mainly these were worded in such a way as to preclude the existence of adjuncts: "Who teaches the first year courses I will be taking? Professors or teaching assistants?" The generic title of "professor" means, to most students and parents, anyone with degree in hand teaching the class. The "teaching assistant" designation is offered as a less-than-desirable choice because supposedly that person will be working on their own degree, thus spending less time and effort on the class, or they may not have the knowledge or experience of a professor. Missing from this simple binary are the thousands of adjunct faculty, many with terminal degrees and years of experience in the classroom: by omission we are not considered.
The title of professor comes at the top of tenure heap. For those not aware, in the United States, in descending order they are professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor/lecturer, then adjunct. The teaching or graduate assistant is not officially considered since many are still classed as students themselves, however, they too are need-based employees. I understand the term "professor" is meant generically but it is this ease of use factor that prevents parents from asking a tougher question: "If my student is taught by mainly adjunct faculty, then where does the tuition money go?"
Where, indeed. One site listed seeing construction projects on campus as a "good sign" that the school keeps its facilities up to date. A better question might be "Why is this building being constructed now and what is it replacing?" Are funds being directed to unnecessary projects--rock climbing walls, waterfalls, more lounge/meeting space--that could have been spent on education via creating full-time permanent positions for faculty? Further, what is the rate of administrative growth compared to permanent faculty hires in the past five or ten years? Why has this trend toward a top-heavy system emerged?
Most schools suffer from a contemporary marketing trend of expressing their values. I've heard this same obfuscation used recently in regards to the corporate health care employment area, i.e. employees lauded for going "above and beyond," which a friend of the blog pointed out are both prepositions requiring an object: above and beyond WHAT are they going?! One of my own alma maters used "Beyond Expectations" for a number of years. At least we received an object for our preposition, as indeterminate as it was; however, at no time were we given exactly whose expectations the place was going beyond. As can be imagined, this is quite subjective. Was the money spent on new banners, letterhead designs, website layouts, and other official insignia worth it in the end? I forgot it entirely and had to ask others.
However, pointed questions picking away at the economic values of the college or university would most likely fall to people perhaps not as well equipped to answer them. Many campus tours are given by college students paid work study wages. Some staff serving as campus recruiters also may not be paid large salaries and would perhaps be placed in precarious positions in regards to reprimands or even their employment status if they answered. I would not want to cause trouble for these folks. Perhaps if, on a tour, a more honored guest gives a question and answer session, that would be the best forum for these. A parent's letter to the school being considered might also bring interesting results without putting anyone tenuous in peril.
Among all the other pertinent questions students, parents, and guardians might be considering when selecting a college, might I suggest tacking on some, if not all, of the following should they be given an opportunity? Better yet, make an opportunity and ask:
Certainly more could be added to this list, but it past time to challenge the hierarchy of wages at the post-secondary level: whose work is vital to the success, safety, and well-being of students and how are these employees being treated?
A cursory look at several websites with handy--and some not so handy but instead rather lengthy--lists revealed that the list-makers consider things like difficulty of classes, roommates, safety, and food to be the biggest concerns.
Several lists suggested asking who teaches first-year courses, but mainly these were worded in such a way as to preclude the existence of adjuncts: "Who teaches the first year courses I will be taking? Professors or teaching assistants?" The generic title of "professor" means, to most students and parents, anyone with degree in hand teaching the class. The "teaching assistant" designation is offered as a less-than-desirable choice because supposedly that person will be working on their own degree, thus spending less time and effort on the class, or they may not have the knowledge or experience of a professor. Missing from this simple binary are the thousands of adjunct faculty, many with terminal degrees and years of experience in the classroom: by omission we are not considered.
The title of professor comes at the top of tenure heap. For those not aware, in the United States, in descending order they are professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor/lecturer, then adjunct. The teaching or graduate assistant is not officially considered since many are still classed as students themselves, however, they too are need-based employees. I understand the term "professor" is meant generically but it is this ease of use factor that prevents parents from asking a tougher question: "If my student is taught by mainly adjunct faculty, then where does the tuition money go?"
Where, indeed. One site listed seeing construction projects on campus as a "good sign" that the school keeps its facilities up to date. A better question might be "Why is this building being constructed now and what is it replacing?" Are funds being directed to unnecessary projects--rock climbing walls, waterfalls, more lounge/meeting space--that could have been spent on education via creating full-time permanent positions for faculty? Further, what is the rate of administrative growth compared to permanent faculty hires in the past five or ten years? Why has this trend toward a top-heavy system emerged?
Most schools suffer from a contemporary marketing trend of expressing their values. I've heard this same obfuscation used recently in regards to the corporate health care employment area, i.e. employees lauded for going "above and beyond," which a friend of the blog pointed out are both prepositions requiring an object: above and beyond WHAT are they going?! One of my own alma maters used "Beyond Expectations" for a number of years. At least we received an object for our preposition, as indeterminate as it was; however, at no time were we given exactly whose expectations the place was going beyond. As can be imagined, this is quite subjective. Was the money spent on new banners, letterhead designs, website layouts, and other official insignia worth it in the end? I forgot it entirely and had to ask others.
However, pointed questions picking away at the economic values of the college or university would most likely fall to people perhaps not as well equipped to answer them. Many campus tours are given by college students paid work study wages. Some staff serving as campus recruiters also may not be paid large salaries and would perhaps be placed in precarious positions in regards to reprimands or even their employment status if they answered. I would not want to cause trouble for these folks. Perhaps if, on a tour, a more honored guest gives a question and answer session, that would be the best forum for these. A parent's letter to the school being considered might also bring interesting results without putting anyone tenuous in peril.
Among all the other pertinent questions students, parents, and guardians might be considering when selecting a college, might I suggest tacking on some, if not all, of the following should they be given an opportunity? Better yet, make an opportunity and ask:
- What is your campus's percentage of contingent (adjunct) faculty?
- What are they paid per course?
- What percentage of employees at this school are classed as administrative?
- What is the salary of the president?
- Does he or she live on campus?
- How many vice presidents work here?
- What construction projects are going on? Why were they needed? How are they funded?
- What percentage of grounds staff is full time? What is seasonal?
- What does the lowest paid administrative assistant make per year?
- What is the average semester's cost for textbooks? Are there options for renting or lending of books?
Certainly more could be added to this list, but it past time to challenge the hierarchy of wages at the post-secondary level: whose work is vital to the success, safety, and well-being of students and how are these employees being treated?
Friday, February 21, 2014
Life Intervenes and "Silly Season" Ensues
If my readers were looking for a blog post this week just past, there was not one. It was one of those weeks: The weather was worrisome for the big drive commute and the walk commute, and more importantly, the smaller child was very sick. Also, I had a good deal of papers to grade and return because the students needed the feedback to continue with their projects. I even began the week getting observed at School Two. And I had to chase down an observer at School One to get last term's observation report signed. And, and, and, and....ad infinitum.
The funny thing is, as I sat evaluating papers, planning classes, and working on all the things either late at night or very early in the morning when the small, clingy sick one was asleep, I missed this. I felt somewhat guilty about not posting this week. To say there is A LOT going on with the #AdjunctUprising would be an understatement. University of Illinois at Chicago's adjuncts staged a planned work stoppage, or strike if you will, to bring attention to their cause despite the insane weather the midwest is getting pummeled by. Lecturers at the University of New Hampshire voted to unionize while many others work towards this goal for their own campuses. Media coverage of adjunct issues continues on Al Jazeera America, NPR, Inside Higher Ed, and The Chronicle, not to mention in brave student papers at campuses across the nation.
As schools edge towards Spring Break and the halfway point of the semester, many of us search frantically for our next paying gig(s). In NASCAR they have a part of the year called "silly season," which involves drivers changing teams, drivers losing their rides or sponsors, or teams try to lock in drivers and/or sponsors for the upcoming season in an effort to win the most races. I believe we adjuncts also have a "silly season," but it is much more serious than the name implies. Just as a driver could end up without a ride and thus a livelihood, so too could any of us in adjunct land. People get frantic, then desperate.
Those of us whose full time adjunct positions were cut at School One, which necessitated my employment at School Two and was the impetus for beginning this blog, were told in a meeting that we would not be rehired. At this point, it looks as though the union there, which I have belonged to since 2006 and is for all faculty, will not protect us. They failed to write explicit terms for our situation into the last contract though they fended off an attack on adjuncts from management during negotiations. I suppose they did not foresee their own departments in turn meting out the same abhorrent treatment that was deemed abominable when suggested by those on the opposite side: cut hours to avoid paying benefits or good salaries. I still do not know what will happen with the job posting there and am in a wait-and-see-while-plotting-other-routes kind of mood. Clearly, adjuncts need their own union, and not one that inevitably puts tenure track faculty first whether on purpose or by default.
In the ongoing effort to remain relevant to the academic field, I've been busy submitting some award applications, publications, and sketching out some new article ideas during all this as well. Oh, and even doing some service work. Winston Churchill said, "If you're going through hell, keep going." Some days it feels like that. The danger in stopping is inaction, apathy, and defeat. Even if I end up going in entirely another direction, I don't think I can stop moving yet. Maybe it means creeping only inches forward in a week or a month, but it is motion towards some goal though I'm not sure what that is.
What will happen to the intrepid adjunct population? I guess that's a story for a later post. My Magic 8 Ball still isn't working very well.
The funny thing is, as I sat evaluating papers, planning classes, and working on all the things either late at night or very early in the morning when the small, clingy sick one was asleep, I missed this. I felt somewhat guilty about not posting this week. To say there is A LOT going on with the #AdjunctUprising would be an understatement. University of Illinois at Chicago's adjuncts staged a planned work stoppage, or strike if you will, to bring attention to their cause despite the insane weather the midwest is getting pummeled by. Lecturers at the University of New Hampshire voted to unionize while many others work towards this goal for their own campuses. Media coverage of adjunct issues continues on Al Jazeera America, NPR, Inside Higher Ed, and The Chronicle, not to mention in brave student papers at campuses across the nation.
As schools edge towards Spring Break and the halfway point of the semester, many of us search frantically for our next paying gig(s). In NASCAR they have a part of the year called "silly season," which involves drivers changing teams, drivers losing their rides or sponsors, or teams try to lock in drivers and/or sponsors for the upcoming season in an effort to win the most races. I believe we adjuncts also have a "silly season," but it is much more serious than the name implies. Just as a driver could end up without a ride and thus a livelihood, so too could any of us in adjunct land. People get frantic, then desperate.
Those of us whose full time adjunct positions were cut at School One, which necessitated my employment at School Two and was the impetus for beginning this blog, were told in a meeting that we would not be rehired. At this point, it looks as though the union there, which I have belonged to since 2006 and is for all faculty, will not protect us. They failed to write explicit terms for our situation into the last contract though they fended off an attack on adjuncts from management during negotiations. I suppose they did not foresee their own departments in turn meting out the same abhorrent treatment that was deemed abominable when suggested by those on the opposite side: cut hours to avoid paying benefits or good salaries. I still do not know what will happen with the job posting there and am in a wait-and-see-while-plotting-other-routes kind of mood. Clearly, adjuncts need their own union, and not one that inevitably puts tenure track faculty first whether on purpose or by default.
In the ongoing effort to remain relevant to the academic field, I've been busy submitting some award applications, publications, and sketching out some new article ideas during all this as well. Oh, and even doing some service work. Winston Churchill said, "If you're going through hell, keep going." Some days it feels like that. The danger in stopping is inaction, apathy, and defeat. Even if I end up going in entirely another direction, I don't think I can stop moving yet. Maybe it means creeping only inches forward in a week or a month, but it is motion towards some goal though I'm not sure what that is.
What will happen to the intrepid adjunct population? I guess that's a story for a later post. My Magic 8 Ball still isn't working very well.
Chaos Clouds, photo by me
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