A Room of One’s Own
Nationwide, office space at a premium for adjunct faculty
by Rob Schnelle Stooping to clear the corrugated steel overhang of an 8-by-30-foot cargo container, Leo Hemridge exits his new office, shielding his eyes in wan October sunlight. He wears the haunted expression of a man who expects imminent eviction, perhaps because his quarters were formerly occupied by migrant asparagus pickers. Hemridge works as an instructor in psychology at Darwin State University in Darwin, Kansas, where administrators have found a novel solution to the school’s shortage of faculty office space. “When the adjunct offices were converted to a student casino,” Hemridge explains, “they moved us out here.” “Out here” is […]