Looking Back and Looking Forward
This issue of the magazine includes some of my favorite profiles and interviews published over the past decade. Often, readers who subscribe are disappointed to find out that they must purchase articles from our archive in order to read them. At the moment, we have close to 600 articles from which to choose. Every one of them was crafted by a hand-working writer (myself included). My pieces are freely available online, but those written by others are housed in our archives under an arrangement that calls for the writers to be compensated for their work. I feel this is only fair.
However, I have the option of reusing the pieces, and that’s what I’ve done is this issue of Adjunct Advocate. I’ve gone back nine years and chosen pieces that stand out as exceptional examples of the work we’ve done over the course of the past decade. During that time, we’ve interviewed and profiled dozens of activists, union leaders and part-time faculty devoted to their teaching, students and higher education. Each has made a significant impact, and their stories are compelling. It was difficult to choose.
When I look over the list, I have an opportunity to gaze back over my own career, as well as the careers of those whom we wrote about. I have a collection of interviews with people who’ve gone on to great accomplishments. For instance, Dr. Cary Nelson, whom we interviewed in the 90s, when he was first publishing about the “adjunct problem,” is now the president of the American Association of University Professors. Ken Hardy’s story is more poignant. A few years after we profiled him, he was killed in a diving accident. Dr. William Scheuerman, whom I spoke with in 2001, when he was still the President of the New York UUP, refused to be interviewed in 2007. He objected to the questions, I presume, though he never said so. Here’s a sample of what I wanted to ask him:
- Q for Dr. Scheuerman: In January of 2006, you testified to the New York State Senate that, without increased state funding, and with the continued reliance on part-time faculty, “the state-operated campuses will continue to deny thousands of students the opportunity to obtain high-quality public higher education in New York.” Can you help us understand just how, precisely, SUNY’s 2,000+ part-time faculty impede SUNY’s students from obtaining a high-quality education?
- Q for Dr. Scheuerman: Given your public statement about the dangers of reliance of adjunct faculty at SUNY, it would appear that part-time faculty within your unified local are viewed as a necessary evil. If I were a SUNY part-timer, I would be leery of UUP’s ability to keep my best interests at the forefront when bargaining on my behalf. Comments?
Bonnie Halloran still serves as the President of the University of Michigan’s Lecturers union (LEO). She is one of just a handful of part-time faculty members to lead locals that include both full- and part-time faculty. Her union has negotiated two contracts, both of which focused on raising the pay for those part-timers who earn the lowest per course pay. This has caused some friction within the union, but Bonnie Halloran is still committed to equity for her lowest paid members. In 2009, she took a leave from her duties as president to convalesce from cancer.
When writer Marjorie Lynn interviewed Susan Titus, 1,000 part-time faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, were organizing. Today, thanks to Titus’s leadership, the union negotiated a first contract in less time than I ever thought possible. After all, adjuncts at Pace University, led by part-timer John Pawlowski and represented by the NYSUT (AFT), were still without a first contract after four years when Titus and her colleagues decided to come together to bargain collectively. The part-timers at Wayne State enjoyed a sweet victory, and when you read the profile of Susan Titus, I’m sure you’ll understand just why she and her colleagues were successful.
Today, I have a long list of women and men within higher education whom I’d like to have profiled and whom I’d like to interview for Adjunct Advocate. Added to this list, there are also those whom I’ve interviewed for our Podcast Interview series. You can listen to the podcast interviews (if you are an AdjunctNation.com Family member, and are logged in) by clicking here.
In the meantime, enjoy this issue.