Part-Time Thoughts

Dear Editor:
Thanks for your interview with Dr. Dan Jacoby. His study on part-time teaching and graduation rates should be the source of a lot of consideration. Thanks especially for making clear that lower graduation rates may have nothing to do with the part-time faculty, but with systemic problems caused by their adjunct labor conditions.

 

Still, having read the Jacoby study, I must point out that I think there is a major flaw in it. It accounts for every sort of confounding variable except for the most important and most obvious: part-time teachers tend to teach many more evening classes, whereas full-time teachers tend to teach mostly day classes. Because there is widespread anecdotal evidence that day students and evening students differ in motivations and study habits, I think this oversight in Jacoby’s study could very well be a fatal flaw.

In my own state, Washington, part-time faculty in the colleges taught 68% of all evening classes but only 39 percent of all daytime classes, according to a state study from Fall 2006. When on-campus classes are considered alone, the gap is substantially greater.

Because the Jacoby study is--quite improperly--being widely used to attack the quality of teaching of part-timers themselves, it is doubly troublesome to know that its conclusions may also be simply unreliable.

Sincerely,
Doug Collins
PT instructor in the Seattle Community College District

Dear Editor:
“Part-Time Thoughts” is one of the best blogs about part-time faculty on the Web! I never miss an installment. Lots of bloggers post entries that just link to someone else’s blog, and call it a day. Blogs written by part-timers can be nothing more than lines and lines of complaints and vitriol. Not the “Part-Time Thoughts” blog. The writing is original, and the research is very well done. The topics are timely, and I may not always agree with what the blogger writes, but the posts make me think. Thank you for this great resource.

Kelly Liu, Lecturer in English Language and Literature
American University
Washington, DC

Dear Editor:

I want to say that I think the “Part-Time Thoughts” blog is the most irritating, high-handed and smug writing I have read in quite some time. No wonder the author wishes to remain anonymous!

Anonymous
Cleveland, OH

Adjunct Advocate Print to Digital

Dear Editor:
I just switched from print to digital. It was a snap (thanks!). I don’t think I’ll miss the print edition of the magazine, but only time will tell. I appreciate the lower subscription price, as every adjunct looks to save money whenever possible. I have subscribed for the past four years, and in that time have switched schools twice. That’s normal, I know, but when I went to graduate school, I never envisioned a career where moving from employer to employer would be the norm. In the midst of all my moves, I can always rely on Adjunct Advocate to be there. It’s great to know that.

Greg F. Crowell
San Diego, CA

Podcast Interviews

Dear Editor:
I just finished listening to the Podcast interview between P.D. Lesko, Kip Lornell and Libby Smigel. What a wonderful addition to the website these interviews are! I enjoyed the interview very much. There is not a union at the schools I teach at, and as it is South Carolina, I am not sure there ever will be a union. Be that as it may, I found the struggle between the part-time faculty at George Washington University and the university administrators riveting. I can’t even begin to imagine how much money the university spent over the years on lawyers fees, and other expenses related to keeping the part-time faculty from organizing. I only hope that Lornell and Smigel are able to keep up the amazing work they are doing on behalf of the part-timers. I am not sure I would have the ability to do what they did, but I guess you never know until you try.

Helen Sanderson
Charleston, SC