Although we adjuncts sure are busy, getting ready to teach multiple preps at unsavory hours, we are making time to give you some advice.
If we are good enough to teach the shittiest snowflakes and be the gatekeepers for your golden advanced classes, we are good enough for your full-time posting. We're at least good enough to warrant some interviews. The collective time and effort expended by all of your candidates was worth at least a nod. At least a flick of your booger. What we didn't expect was an canned rejection from HR, a big thumbs down in our mailboxes, along with all the directives for fall. And we didn't expect your exasperation and feigned exhaustion that you didn't hire anyone. We didn't expect to be told to reapply, but only if we could:
"Give us some GOOD letters of recommendation!" (Although none of you will write one for any of us. "It's unethical.")
"For Christ's sakes, make them RECENT and RELEVANT!" (See above)
"Tell us MORE about your experience!" (Although the text box was limited to 300 characters)
"Upload MORE documents for us to read!" (Although we were limited to only a handful of uploads and small file size, so small, I had to compress them down to below print-quality resolution)
"Really SHOW US who you ARE!" (Hello? We are right here, and have been here for a long time)
And when we point out that applicants were constrained by character limits, file size and number of uploads, and that could account for the lack of this/that/the other, don't ask us to send the committee an email, reminding you to look into it when you conduct your second search. We're too busy teaching your students.
"We really hope to get some GOOD candidates next time!"
To which we say,
Suck It.
Sincerely,
Your Dirty, Worthless Adjuncts
Sadly, departments rarely hire their own contingent faculty (the grass is always greener, I suspect, and besides there are too many well-qualified applicants and, in most cases, only one job). But if they couldn't find *any* qualified candidate, inside or outside the university, in this job market, something is very, very fishy.
ReplyDeleteThey remind me of the admissions committee for one of the departments at my graduate university (not my own), which, after the voluntary, self-initiated departure of 1/2 of the department's first-year graduate students (including almost all of the women) in the course of a year, sat down to figure out how they could avoid making such bad admissions choices in the future.
@Contingent Cassandra
ReplyDelete"But if they couldn't find *any* qualified candidate, inside or outside the university, in this job market, something is very, very fishy."
My thoughts exactly.
The place where I'm adjuncting right now made a new tenure-track hire last year, and the new person is starting this fall. This person was hired at the Assistant Professor level, and already has an edited collection and a few articles to her credit, as well as a book contract with a prestigious university press. She wasn't the only applicant with these sorts of qualifications.
There are people being hired right now as Assistant Professors who, in a better market, would probably qualify for Associate Professor jobs. The idea that there could be no qualified candidates for a position seems, in this market, to be pretty hard to believe.
@Defunct: very true. My guess is that the department is up against some combination of asinine bureaucratic regulations regarding hiring and a badly-designed online application form. But that doesn't excuse their blaming the applicants; writing the letter the OP describes was just plain stupid, on a whole bunch of levels.
ReplyDeleteCC, that happened in a department in my own field. Depressing to think it's still going on.
ReplyDeleteThat letter is inexcusable, even if its terms are being exaggerated; sure, by all means blame the candidates, it's not as if they feel bad enough already. I would send an email to the search committee pointing out the problems with the online application form, though. They need to know about that.
I can just see them looking through the applications and seeing one by the adjunct across the hall: "Funny this applicant doesn't have any recent letters of recommendation, since they've been working for several years. I know him personally to be a good teacher. I couldn't write one for ethical reasons, since I'm at the same institution, but I'm sure someone could have. Maybe he's not such a good candidate."
ReplyDeleteOn the broader issue: I can see not automatically hiring from their own pool of contingent faculty. You don't want a completely "inbred" institutional and research culture. But I would think anyone that was a fairly decent colleague would make the short list: Willingness to really live and work there already demonstrated. Little breaking in, knows the ropes. Already "fits." No teaching demo BS rituals. And anyone who isn't a fairly decent colleague wouldn't be adjuncting there for long. So usually, depending on how important something like the content of the research is to the position, I would think the adjuncts would frequently be hired. But that doesn't happen.
So no, I don't get it.
On the other hand (channeling devil's advocate scumbaggery) why buy the cow? You're all still there. They didn't get their shiny fantasy hire, but they still have all of you, the captives, who have demonstrated willingness to really live and work there already, little breaking in, know the ropes, AND SO VERY CHEAP! It's scummy scummy logic but there it is (I've been in your shoes several years before and hate hate hate.)
ReplyDelete@DrLem - Yes, that applies.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking it might be a reflection of several more things as well:
- Like hires like. The committee members came right out of grad school back in the day, so that is what they understand and consider good.
- Adjuncting is considered a failure.
- An unwillingness to set the precedent and (locally) increase expectations next time and (generally) have adjuncting become a recognized, pre-prof career stage. If it became routine to hire adjuncts, especially local adjuncts, and it became _expected_ that you first earn your spurs for several years as an adjunct, that would change the whole career path (and make it less attractive).
Having been in this position, at two community colleges and one small liberal arts college, I will say that I think a lot of the point is what two of the commenters have already said:
ReplyDelete1. Why buy the cow? You are already there.
2. Adjuncting (for more than a semester or year) is considered a failure.