Letters to the Editor
Thank You!
To the Editor:
This is a rather random e-mail, but I felt compelled to send it
tonight after discovering AdjunctNation.com after a search of
Google using such search terms as “Adjunct Disasters” and the
like. I’m four weeks into my adjunct teaching and although
I’ve been re-hired to teach Elementary Arabic in the Fall, they
are dragging their feet in terms of my Islam course and/or letting me teach in my area of specialisation. I was told, verbally
of course, that, “Oh yes, adjuncts get two courses every semester and then usually go to three after the second semester.” Right.
My kids are bright (sometimes) and sometimes I feel as
though I am teaching a row of shoe boxes, filled to the brim
with hair. A colleague and friend, who is a full professor of
history (my former adviser) is coming to teach them and I told
him that he may perhaps need to utilise hand puppets. No one
has asked me about my Islam class, although they are inspired
by the fact that they may be able to save some money by letting
me teach my area of expertise: Women and Islam, together and
not just on Islam.
This is all despite the fact that there will be a feature on me
and my students in the York Sunday paper’s religion section. I have two Master’s degrees, one summa cum laude, and I’m
doing this to save money for my Ph.D. and pay off some debts.
Sometimes after class I sit and think, “Am I naive or stupid or
both?”
So anyway, I just wanted to thank you for publishing the
Adjunct Advocate! I’m really looking forward to reading and
getting some much needed assurance that I am not totally
crackers. Thank you so much again,
Alix Jerome
Instructor of Islamic Studies/Gender
York College of Pennsylvania
Equal Rights Legislation for Adjunct
Professors
To the Editor:
Responding to Keith Hoeller’s timely piece, I want to let readers know that I wrote a strong letter—as national president of
the American Association of University Professors—supporting all the Washington State legislation on behalf of part-time
faculty when it was first introduced. The letters went out to the
legislators on the relevant committees. These provisions need
to be part of state law. All unions should support them.
Community college part-time faculty
should also have guaranteed priority for
full-time jobs. When that is not possible,
conversion should match (and not exceed) the rate of part-time faculty attrition.
The AAUP has recently issued a historic set of recommended regulations
calling for the fair expectation of continued employment for part-time faculty, for
termination for cause only, for timely
notification of reappointment, and for full
teaching evaluations.
Cary Nelson
AAUP President
Failing Student Athletes
To the Editor:
While some top-seeded colleges in the
NCAA men’s basketball tournament received well-deserved criticism last week
for their low graduation rates for African-American athletes, the critics neglected an even more alarming issue in
our nation’s colleges and universities:
college success rates for ALL African-American students.
The University of Memphis, The University of Nevada – Las Vegas, The University of Kansas, and
the University of Oregon may all have made it to the Sweet
Sixteen, but the futures of their African-American students look
far less than sweet. While these schools are near the front of the
pack in basketball, they’re near the bottom of the barrel in terms
of African-American graduation rates.
Using its online data tool, www.collegeresults.org, the Education Trust conducted an analysis of 6-year graduation rates
for all African-American students at each of the Sweet Sixteen
schools and found four major offenders with rates well below
the already too-low national average of 41.2 percent for African-American students.
The University of Memphis – 25.7%
The University of Nevada – Las Vegas – 28.6%
University of Kansas – 34.2%
University of Oregon – 34.8%
The latter two schools, Kansas and Oregon, are also offend-
ers when it comes to graduation rate gaps; African-American
students at these schools only graduate at about half the rate of
white students. Moreover, some of these schools don’t do well
by their white students, either. Both the University of Nevada –
Las Vegas and the University of Memphis only graduate approximately four in 10 of their white students within six years.
By the way, the four-year graduation rates for African-American students at these schools are even more abysmal.
Why does this matter? Schools that win major athletic championships expect to see and have seen increases in student application, fund raising and donation dollars, and revenue from merchandise sales. The “Cinderella story” of last year’s tournament
and unexpected Final Four team, George Mason University, experienced a 20 percent increase in student applications over one
year.
African-American students attracted to these “failing four”
schools may get to wear the colors of winners, but they will
more than likely lose in their efforts to win a college degree, and
all that comes with it.
After the celebrations are over, prospective students and parents would be wise to check out College Results Online, to see
their odds for academic success at their schools of choice. College Results is the only web-based tool that allows users to compare graduation rates by student group at similar schools.
Administrators at the “failing four” can also use the data tool
to see which schools in their bracket are successfully graduating
more African-American students. For example, administrators
at the University of Kansas would find that their fellow Sweet
Sixteen team the University of Tennessee is getting the job done
on and off the court with far higher graduation rates for African-American students, and a nearly nonexistent graduation rate gap.
Then they might take a road trip to Tennessee find out what
works.
Claire Campbell
Communications Coordinator
The Education Trust
Up or OUT
To the Editor:
I read with much interest David Murray’s essay in the Jan/Feb
2007 issue. It is always difficult to manage one’s career, but particularly so for part-time faculty. On the one hand, it’s possible
to teach for, literally, years at the same institution. On the other,
we can be fired for no cause at a moment’s notice. Under such
abysmal circumstances, actually guiding one’s teaching career
can become the impossible dream. But is the answer up or out?
Certainly, sitting around and simply waiting to either be fired or
to be taken advantage of is just silly. Mr. Murray believes it is
somewhat more than silly, however. He believes teaching part-time for an extended period will actually damage one’s career.
I have been teaching for three years now. I have applied for
openings throughout the country, as well as at the institution
where I am currently employed. No bites yet. Should I give it
another year and then GET OUT? If I do, I will be leaving a job
I love. If I don’t I may never have the opportunity to find a full-time position simply because my institution was happy to employ me part-time over an extended period. Thanks for this
thoughtful and thought-provoking piece!
Joseph R. Moran
Salt Lake City, UT
