Rising Gas Prices Hit Adjuncts Hard
Tara Conant is an adjunct in Massachusetts and teaches at two schools within 25 miles of each other—a drive that she can afford to make, even now that gas prices are, on average, 84 percent higher than last year. The spike in gas prices, however, led her to decline an offer to teach a class that would have required her to drive 150 miles round trip.
“I figured about one-third of what I would make would go for gas and travel just to teach one class,” wrote Conant in an email.
Conant has cut down not only on travel for work, but on recreational driving, too.
“I still am planning to take a few auto trips this summer, but will cut back in dining out or other activities since the money has been spent on gasoline,” she wrote.
Conversations with part-time faculty across the country show just how much rising gas prices have affected their professional and recreational driving habits. Although few reported drastic reductions in non-essential driving, several told Adjunct Advocate that they have requested changes in their teaching schedules—or have even declined to teach courses—to cut back on their commutes.
Harry Jackson, Jr., an adjunct from St. Louis, Missouri, drives 25 miles each way to teach classes at night. In an email to Adjunct Advocate, he explained that, because of rising gas prices and his college’s policy of paying adjuncts based on the number of students enrolled in a class, he has had to decline to teach classes with fewer than eight students.
“What’s funny, I can’t even find an accountant who could even make a tax issue out of this,” wrote Jackson.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp), the price of gas during the last twelve months rose 23.5 percent, from approximately $2.16, in June 2005, to $2.98 in July 2006. Between 2003, when the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular was $1.56, and the present, prices have risen 84 percent—which, for an adjunct driving 250 miles round trip per week in a car that gets 26 miles per gallon, means having to spend an extra $566.00 each year on commuting.
Adjunct professor Peter Tatiner lives in central New Jersey, but commutes as far away as New York and Bucks County, Pennsylvania to teach courses in intellectual heritage, composition, and advertising. Tatiner drives a fuel-efficient Toyota Camry, but is still feeling the pinch of gas prices that, on the eastern seaboard, have jumped as high as $3.00 per gallon. Each week, Tatiner drives more than 270 miles to teach three courses at colleges in Pennsylvania and New York. His commute along Route 1 takes him through frequently congested areas.
To save money on gas, Tatiner has begun to consider teaching at New Jersey colleges that are closer to his home. Whereas he used to apply to schools within a 70-mile radius, he is now limiting his applications to a 50-mile radius.
“[I’ve gotten] very careful about checking where these colleges are located before I apply,” he said, but also pointed out that New Jersey colleges tend to pay less than those in New York and Pennsylvania; as a result, he will have to assume a heavier teaching load to reduce the burden imposed by his present commuting expenses. Tatiner is not, however, ready to teach online to save on gas—he tried online teaching 18 months ago and found the experience “a nightmare.”
Unlike Tatiner, some adjuncts have escaped the trap of high gas prices by taking advantage of the latest innovations in classroom technology. For example, Dr. Russ Meade, of Limestone College, in South Carolina, conducts hybrid classes that allow him to teach students remotely by using live Web casts, video, and telephonic voice links.
“I am always available ‘live’ via my Web Cam that is on all day long! My students can see, hear me at any time during the day,” Meade wrote in an email. “Now how cool is that?!”
Jim Whitney directs the Business and Management program at Vermont’s Champlain College. He said that adjuncts are requesting scheduling changes to combat higher gas prices.
“Both our veteran adjuncts and our new hires are asking to have all their courses grouped on as few days as possible, and in some cases are declining course sections because the meeting times would require an extra trip to campus….” said Whitney.
Clifton Kaiser teaches freshman composition and sophomore literature courses in the English department at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He has responded to the gas price hikes by changing his teaching schedule from Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to Tuesdays and Thursdays. He now drives about 50 miles round trip each week between his home in Nashville and the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro. Several years ago, he replaced his gas-guzzling car with one that gets 35 miles per gallon. Kaiser wrote in an email that “I’ve cut back on my recreational driving a little bit. I mainly try to combine errands. For example, if I have only one errand to run, I usually put it off until I have something else to do in that same area.”
Few adjuncts interviewed receive mileage reimbursement from their employers, although those who do are grateful. Jerome McCartney teaches biology at the Community College of Southern Nevada. He said that “[d]uring spring 2006…I taught multiple courses at different campuses….The high cost of fuel (gasoline) really put a strain on my budget….The college would reimburse mileage (on a monthly basis) to and from each campus at the rate of 44.5 cents per mile. That is a fair rate but it still did not cover all of [my] fuel costs….”
So, given the improbability of gas prices dropping significantly in the near future, what’s an adjunct to do? Those looking for cheap transportation that can do double duty as entertainment for the kids might consider buying a pogo stick—a Maverick model costs just $19.99 at Dick’s Sporting Goods (www.dickssportinggoods.com).
