I have a separate tutoring business that helps me buy groceries. Now that I am in week 4 of job hiatus, I need tutoring calls now more than ever. Fortunately, I have been getting lots of calls. But, then I'm left wondering...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A Big Early Morning Thirsty on Slavery
I have a separate tutoring business that helps me buy groceries. Now that I am in week 4 of job hiatus, I need tutoring calls now more than ever. Fortunately, I have been getting lots of calls. But, then I'm left wondering...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Does the Dean even have to find out?
ReplyDeleteIf you're employed part-time or no-time, they can't say anything, morally speaking anyway. And I can't imagine a solo tutor would constitute competition. If this is the same dean who gave away your summer teaching to someone else (that was you right?), well, he can go pound sand if he wants to see you further un- or under-employed.
I'd just keep it relatively on the down-low, tutor to your heart's content (and to buy groceries). Good luck EMH!
Not a damn thing. You are contingent, and as you are currently not an employee of the college--i.e. not under contract--the dean has no hold over you whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteAs for when you are under contract--i.e. in semesters when you teach--it would all depend on the terms of the contract you signed. If it isn't in there, there ain't a fucking thing they can do about it. You should have a copy of your last contract lying around. Read it. The answer to this thirsty lies within.
At my uni, we are not permitted to tutor students in classes which we are also teaching, because the "tutoring" should be happening already. For regular faculty I believe they frown on my tutoring any subject my department teaches, for pay.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm on salary, all year round. You're paid by the course and you are not affiliated with the university or the department as an employee when not teaching any classes. I don't see how they could object. But read your contract, as AA says.
As an adjunct, I've had students ask me if I tutor. My answer to them is "yes, but not to my own students-I consider that unethical". If you're not enrolled in my class, no problem-cash only, though.
ReplyDeleteI tutored my way through a tenure-track job -- not tutoring college kids, but I did it. Otherwise I would have starved, as 60% of my sucky pay check went to rent my one room. I also adjuncted, worked as a personal assistant, and did transcribing work. I told the Dean that if she wanted me not to do these things I needed a raise. On her end it was cheaper to underpay me and look the other way, apparently.
ReplyDeleteCurious. How did the mods decide on a pic of Guinan & Ensign Ro? http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ensign_Ro_(episode)
ReplyDeletethat is not my graphic. it was provided by the poster.
ReplyDeleteOne further note: for the rules that apply while you're under contract, you may need to consult a faculty handbook and/or a separate adjunct handbook, either or both of which are often a part of the contract. But don't be surprised if you find yourself referred to a faculty handbook containing regulations that barely recognize the existence of adjuncts, or a poorly-written, incomplete, and/or out-of-date adjunct handbook. Both situations are common, as is the situation F&T describes: looking the other way when faculty of all descriptions, from the ridiculously underpaid to the ridiculously overpaid, moonlight more than their contracts allow. This is almost certainly a situation in which it makes sense to feign or maintain as much ignorance as possible, and, if the necessity arises, ask forgiveness (rather than seeking prior permission). The only restriction I would observe is the one others name: not taking pay for tutoring a current student (for adjuncts, I don't see any problem with tutoring a past or potential future student; full-time faculty probably need to set their ethical boundaries a bit wider).
ReplyDeleteBesides, if you've had some success in setting up a tutoring business (and assuming your adjunct position doesn't offer any access to benefits), you might want to run the numbers, and see if you'd be better off seeking adjunct work, or seeking more and better-paying private clients. At least on a per-hour basis, it's not too hard to beat adjunct pay, and losing a single client doesn't pack nearly the same financial wallop as losing a class.
@EMH: I second all the advice here. I'm sorry about your situation and have been absent only because I swore off CM until all my grades were in for the semester.
ReplyDelete@F&T: That was a tenure-track job? Sheesh.
This whole discussion reminds me of the 1980s film "Half Moon Street", in which Sigourney Weaver is shocked to find out that (a) her position as a research fellow doesn't pay the rent; and (b) her employers are indifferent. She ends up supplementing her pay with prostitution and then runs into her clients when she gives a talk at a conference.