Waiting for The Green: MTSU Part-timers Go From 4 Paychecks to 3

FOR SOME ADJUNCTS at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), the recent news that they’ll now be paid three times per semester–not the traditional four times per academic term–is causing them to look elsewhere, including online, for work.
According to a May 14, 2004, memo issued by MTSU’s Human Resources office, “Due to the academic calendar changes that will be effective for the fall 2004 semester, pay dates for adjunct faculty will be changed.”

The “academic calendar changes” the memo mentions refer to the fact that instead of beginning classes in mid-August, this fall courses will begin Aug. 30. However, instead of being a one-time only change in pay disbursement for fall, MTSU’s adjuncts will continue to be paid only three times (February, March and April) in the spring 2005 semester. Plus, according to the memo, “Adjunct contracts have been updated to reflect this change for all future semesters,” not merely the upcoming fall and spring.

Upset by the pay-disbursement change, several MTSU adjunct professors reportedly contacted the local office of The Tennessean newspaper, but chose not to go on record with their grievances. Kathy Musselman of MTSU’s HR office, however, did go on record in the June 13, 2004, story to state that MTSU was in compliance with the law and that most Tennessee institutions of higher ed. pay monthly.

Granted, several other state-funded schools in Tennessee, including Volunteer State Community College (VSCC) in Gallatin, pay three times per semester, not four. But that doesn’t make it right, insist those who need a paycheck sooner.

Regarding the three-times-per-semester pay for adjuncts, Len Assante, chairman of VSCC Department of Communication and an advocate for his program’s part-timers, says, “For as long as I have been here, VSCC has paid adjuncts this way. Yes, there have been complaints and there is a process an adjunct can go through to get a ‘hardship’ fourth paycheck–in other words four checks per semester instead of three. And a few folks have done this that I know of.”

Additionally, he notes, “Full-time faculty, a couple years back, pressed to change things so adjuncts could get four checks in the fall, but to no avail.” The reason? It was “too hard for the contract process to get completed in time for September payroll,” Assante explains.
Still, getting a paycheck three times each semester doesn’t make the pay truly monthly, as MTSU’s HR office has maintained.

Therefore, many adjuncts in the state of Tennessee, not just those at MTSU, aren’t being paid on a monthly basis, for the most part.

“It isn’t so much the number of payments as their timing,” observes Cliff Story, MTSU math adjunct. “The first payday will now be, I think, a month later than it used to be. This extends the summer dry period by a month, [and] that could be a real budgetary problem.
“It doesn’t affect me personally, this year, for several irrelevant reasons,” he adds, regarding new pay policy, “ but I imagine it does others. And, of course, the change was made by executive fiat, no consultation with those affected, or even any explanation. It’s a good argument for a union!”

Pam Courtney, now a former part-time instructor for MTSU, says that being paid once a month was already difficult.

“We don’t have any benefits to speak of, no insurance or sick leave, and the wage leaves much to be desired,” remarks Courtney, a single mom. “You wouldn’t think it could get much worse, but this latest move shows it can and will.

“How can we continue to do the job we were hired to do under such conditions?” she asks, incredulously. “You have to be able to buy gas for your car to get to campus, then you have to buy a parking pass each semester, which is $65 to $85 right there, and you can’t do any of that if you aren’t getting paid enough and not often enough.”

According to the Tennessee Department of Labor, employers, including MTSU and other state-funded entities, can alter pay periods, provided they give advance notice of the policy change. Hence, with notice given, some of the state’s adjuncts may choose to abandon their classrooms altogether, but only a new semester will truly tell. Others, however, like 12-year adjunct Lisa Marchesoni, take the latest change-turned-inconvenience in stride.
“[The change in pay disbursement] really doesn’t matter to me, as long as they pay me,” reports Marchesoni, who works a full-time job and adjuncts two evenings per week at MTSU.
Similarly, Sharon Fitzgerald, an adjunct instructor for MTSU’s College of Mass Communication for six years, doesn’t seem to be ruffled by the pay change, either.

“If I were depending on the pay I receive as an adjunct to make my living and pay my bills, whether I get paid three times or four times in a semester would be the least of my worries,” she says. “Anyone who is an adjunct does it for the love of teaching.”

In spite of this latest setback, not all adjunct educators have the same pay-frequency woes as those at MTSU and other Tennessee colleges. That is, not yet, anyway. For example, Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Clarksville, Tenn., adheres to a monthly pay schedule for adjuncts, yet there’s a chance that too could change.

“Currently, we have no plans to change our schedule for payment for adjuncts,” reports Carlene B. Smith, data management coordinator at APSU. “Our on-campus classes have traditionally been paid over four pay periods, September through December and February through May. [But] since we are moving to a later beginning date for fall, it may necessitate a change, depending on how quickly the departments can send through the paperwork and get all necessary signatures.
“We’ll wait and see what happens this fall,” she adds, “and then make any necessary changes.”

Thus, with the time between paychecks growing, some campus-based adjuncts may soon be leaving the brick-and-mortar classroom.

Travis Newsome, who teaches part time for the University of Phoenix Online, says pay frequency is not an issue when it comes to his adjunct work.

“I teach the college math courses,” he says, “and our pay structure is based on the contracts assigned. Each course is five weeks long. The pay falls on the 10th and the 25th of each month based on cut-off dates. Sixty-six percent is paid with the first check and 33 percent is paid once the course is over.”
With its compact teaching schedules and pay frequency, on-line adjunct work is looking better and better to some adjuncts in Tennessee.

“I really enjoy the face-to-face interaction I have with my students, but I must admit, I have been looking at teaching on-line as of late,” says one adjunct who teaches at two Tennessee schools, but chose not to be identified for this story.

“I wouldn’t have to pay for parking, fight traffic or wonder when and if I was going to be paid during a given month,” she says. “I definitely think it’s an option worth exploring at this point. And besides, it’s not like I’d be losing any benefits.