Interview: Dr. William Scheuerman
by Chris Cumo
The American Federation of Teachers, part of the AFL-CIO, issued its first report on part-time faculty in 1979 and has since been active in recruiting adjuncts and in advocating better pay and benefits for them. Among its more than 100,000 college and university faculty members, the AFT includes more than 35,000 adjuncts, making it the nation’s largest union representative of part-time faculty. The AFT’s Executive Council, in May, 2001, formed the Task Force on Part-Time and Contingent Workers. The Adjunct Advocate recently caught up with one of its co-chairs, William Scheuerman, vice president of the Executive Council, president of United University Professions, an AFT affiliate with 25,000 part- and full-time faculty on the campuses of SUNY and the New York State Theatre Institute and a member of the board of directors of the New York State United Teachers, an AFT affiliate with 430,000 members.
TAA: The latest Department of Education figures indicate that the number of part-time faculty is leveling off. Why form a task force now?
Scheuerman: I’m not sure I buy those numbers, and even if they are true we still have a huge problem. Right now 43 percent of all faculty appointments are part-time. When you factor in the large number of graduate students who are teaching a course or two, the percentage is even higher. The AFT maintains that you can’t run a university when there is no structural commitment to a university’s most vulnerable members: adjuncts and graduate students. You can’t have academic freedom or the pursuit of truth in any meaningful sense until you correct this problem. That’s why we need a task force now-to help fix the problem.
TAA: How many part-time faculty members does the AFT represent?
Scheuerman: The AFT has about 120,000 members in higher education. Of these, roughly 35 to 40 percent are part-time faculty.
TAA: How much has part-time faculty membership in the AFT risen in the past five years?
Scheuerman: I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I can tell you that every time a division council meets, the issue of part-time faculty is always before us. This fall, the AFT will issue a compendium of what’s out there, of what the numbers are. What may be more important than the numbers is the fact that the problem of too many adjuncts is not going away. I expect the problem to get worse before it gets better, given the tight budgets for higher education.
TAA: What will the task force achieve beyond issuing generic recommendations on the use of part-time faculty?
Scheuerman: The first thing the task force will do is find out exactly what’s going on, exactly how bad the problem is. Then we will study other unions with contingent workers to see how they are responding, to see what we can learn from them. Then we will make recommendations for action to our locals.
TAA: Does the task force represent a departure from previous AFT efforts, or does it build on earlier AFT initiatives?
Scheuerman: It builds on what we’ve done, but at the same time it’s different. It’s a continuation of the AFT’s work on part-time issues, work that has been a focus of our efforts for years. One of the things we’re seeing is that part-time labor in higher education is spreading to other areas, to the health-care professions for example. What’s different is that the problem of contingent labor, which was once a problem pretty much confined among the professions to higher education, is now a problem crossing all sectors. Today few professionals are immune from the threat of downsizing, which often takes the form of part-time labor.
TAA: The task force includes only AFT leaders. Why?
Scheuerman: The very composition of the AFT means that graduate students and part-time faculty will be represented in the task force. They will be consulted throughout the process. The AFT Program and Policy Council is looking for ways to institutionalize the participation of part-time faculty throughout the AFT. Our task force will set up, and regularly consult, an advisory group of adjuncts and graduate students.
TAA: The use of part-time faculty is expanding rather than contracting or holding steady. What can the AFT and other organizations do to slow or reverse this trend?
Scheuerman: Look, for example, at what we’re doing in New York. I’m president of United University Professions, a union of 25,000 faculty at the twenty-nine state campuses of SUNY. There we’ve negotiated great benefits for adjuncts, effectively driving up the cost of employing them. Adjuncts at SUNY are no longer the do-it-on-the-cheap alternative to employing full-time faculty. But this doesn’t mean that we’ve solved the problem. We’ve encouraged the state legislature to spend $14 to $16 million over the past couple of years to create more full-time lines at CUNY and SUNY. This may sound like a lot of money, but it’s barely making a dent. Just in the last two years, more than 1,000 full-time faculty have retired from CUNY and SUNY, but there hasn’t been enough money to replace them, so both systems have filled the gap with adjuncts. The problem is even worse in New York’s community colleges, where adjuncts teach 70 percent of courses. Legislators know the problem is serious, and we’ve had bipartisan support from them for creating more full-time lines. We’re not moving as fast as everyone would like, but we’re making progress.
TAA: What are the main goals of the task force?
Scheuerman: First, we want to find out what’s out there. Then we want to see what other unions are doing. Finally, we want to make policy recommendations to our locals. At this point it’s premature to say exactly what we’re doing because we’re confronting a difficult problem. At a basic level, we need to know why colleges and universities are losing their commitment to the people who work for them. We’re committed to quality education and to our members. You simply can’t have quality education when half the faculty is part-time. We used to have Rhodes scholars. Now we have roads scholars.
TAA: Will the task force issue recommendations on the use of part-time faculty? If so, isn’t this what every other task force has done?
Scheuerman: That’s what task forces do; they look at the terrain. Once we have our goals clearly in focus, we will put our resources into them. The AFT doesn’t issue recommendations for their own sake. The AFT is a very effective national organization, an organization with a track record of getting things done.
TAA: What will distinguish the AFT’s task force from similar efforts by the AAUP, the National Education Association, and other organizations?
Scheuerman: I’m not familiar with what the NEA has done, though I know something of the AAUP’s work. The basic difference, as I see it, between the AFT and other organizations is that we have a clearly defined structure where it’s easy to identify the leadership points. We hold our people accountable. We don’t pass resolutions just for the sake of passing them. Our recommendations are easy to implement because it’s easy
to see where power is in the AFT. It’s easy to know who’s in charge, to know who to go to when you need action. Most people don’t realize it, but the AFT is three times the size of the AAUP. Our size and structure give us an advantage. We’re a union, not just a professional organization.
TAA: To what degree should one see in the formation of this task force a sense of urgency on the part of the AFT to organize part-time faculty?
Scheuerman: Our urgency comes out of our organizing. We’re strong where we’ve organized. Our locals have won victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Vermont, at places like Temple and Michigan State University. Organizing is really on a roll.
TAA: What should part-time faculty be prepared to do as a result of actions that flow from this task force?
Scheuerman: First let’s see what the actions are. The task-force document will be the product of serious dialogue and thought. It will include contributions from part-time faculty and graduate students. It will be a rational, practical document. The task force will not make recommendations, then shelve them. We make recommendations to put them into action, to solve problems, and the reliance on part-time faculty is
one of the most serious problems confronting higher education
