Comments for AdjunctNation.com

Comment on No Money, No (Real) Life, No Kidding by Shaun

Shaun — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:55:39 +0000

This is a copy of letter a I wrote to Richard Wolff.
I have been teaching math at both a community college and a small univeristy as an adjunct faculty for five years now. Between the two schools I usually teach between 47 and 52 credits worth of classes per calendar year and am still barely able to scratch out a living even in a state with as low living expenses as Michigan. I have read that some colleges are already putting rules in place to limit the teaching load of adjunct faculty in order to avoid paying for the health insurance that would be required by the new law. Does this not represent the begining of the end for traditionally structured schools? The main resource they need is students and less and less of them can afford it. The money they receive from both the public and private sector has dwindled for years. Finally the last bastion of cheap labor can either increase their costs through health insurance premiums or could create chaos with high turnover and instability with the faculty who at most institutions represent the majority. I will post his response if anyone is interested.

Comment on Why We Won’t Be Seeing an “Adjunct Spring” Anytime Soon by TL MackPico

TL MackPico — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:11:58 +0000

I understand the sense of futility, the realization that our BOSS in academe will not be easy to battle. Yet, I disagree that we cannot, will not rise, unite and join stronger together to demand adjunct equity. Let’s have a conversation about just how we might do this here in New York.

Comment on Lucky by Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:46:14 +0000

Lovely! I even got a mention. I’m famous!

Comment on No Money, No (Real) Life, No Kidding by Nht2007

Nht2007 — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:41:44 +0000

I agree.
NO MONEY, NO LIFE

Comment on Hoo Sez We Don’t Need Diktionaries? by Ben

Ben — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:30:08 +0000

I admit to rarely using a dictionary, and I’m a writer, and I teach writing courses to college students. Here’s the thing: Word has made most dictionaries obsolete. I can’t spell worth a shit. The is, however, no substitute for the Roget’s International Thesaurus. This is the one reference book I can’t do without.

Comment on Colleges Skirt Obamacare By Cutting Adjunct Faculty Hours by P.D. Lesko

P.D. Lesko — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:55:38 +0000

@ERW, this is NOT about Obamacare. It is about colleges and universities that are exploiting workers to squeeze a little extra money in order to pay a ballooning class of administrators who pull down six-figure salaries. Providing health insurance for 800 part-time faculty members @$300 per month for 8 months out of the year (adjuncts would be expected to enroll for COBRA during months in which they did not work) would cost $1.9M dollars for premiums in a year. You telling me a college with an annual budget of $100M can’t find 1.9 percent more money to pay for health insurance. A college with 5,000 students would have to charge each one $384 dollars more in tuition and fees each year. You telling me a college kid can’t come up with an additional $1,500 over 4 years? This is NOT about the money. This is NOT about Obamacare. This is about corporate GREED of the most disgusting kind. Colleges charge fees for sports facilities and charge fees for tickets to sporting events. Colleges should think about charging an adjunct faculty health care fee. Maybe reducing pay to administrators by 10 percent. Maybe by planting fewer tulip bulbs on campus, or reallocating a percentage of the money in the budget for full-time faculty compensation.

Comment on Colleges Skirt Obamacare By Cutting Adjunct Faculty Hours by ERW

ERW — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:43:35 +0000

All those people that were so hyped about Obama, now you are getting the fruits of your now you are getting the fruits of your decision. Unfortunately,
others have to suffer for their ignorance.

Comment on No Money, No (Real) Life, No Kidding by Jodi A. Campbell

Jodi A. Campbell — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:46:15 +0000

I’m so sorry. That just sounds awful and a lot like my life, without the mortgage, thankfully. I hope it gets better for you somehow!

Comment on Mayday Manifesto Signers Call For Minimum $5K Per Course Pay For Adjuncts. How Can So Many People Be So Wrong? by admin

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:55:55 +0000

@Sandra, to me it was the math offered in the Manifesto. If adjuncts are scraping by on $20K per year, and according to our data the majority of adjuncts teach 2-4 courses per year, $5K per course equals $20K. That piece made some people pretty angry, but when adjunct activists reach for higher pay, it’s high time they started calling for equal pay. Are they afraid to do that because people might laugh at their hubris? Have they bought in to the higher ed. union garbage that adjuncts can get along with pay that is equitable, as determined by some formula that gives FTers credit for research and student advising (i.e. activities that takes them out of the classroom)? I am heartened that more and more people are advocating for adjuncts, but advocating for anything except pay parity, at this late date, is nothing but a disservice to the adjuncts, and more noise added to the debate within higher education.

Comment on Mayday Manifesto Signers Call For Minimum $5K Per Course Pay For Adjuncts. How Can So Many People Be So Wrong? by Sandra Keifer

Sandra Keifer — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:39:45 +0000

Thank you for coming out and saying it. As a community college instructor, I make $2000 per course, so $5000 sounds like a windfall—but yes, I still agree with you. If the school offered us $2500 per course, many of us would feel rich. In fact, they recently offered us a tiered-pay deal, to begin in a couple of years, for about $2150 per course, and some instructors are jumping for joy. They don’t care about the fact that their FT colleagues make $6000+ per course, or that our administrators make six figures. They don’t care about the fact that the college is hiring more FT, benefitted administrators every month. These adjuncts are so hungry that they actually said, “We were thrown a crumb, and we’re gonna take it.” They emotionally insisted that our group must work “inside the box” we’ve been given by administration. (For example, administrators told us we were not allowed to use the “u-word” —union— on school property — unbelievable, right?) These adjuncts will not stand up for themselves, even when they are given hard evidence about the school’s revenues and costs. At what point does hunger become anger? When do we find the strength to spit on the hand that throws us the crumb?