My dean promised us a half-time position in our department to cover some of the GE courses (our enrollment has gone up and we needed it). We built the schedule around that, hired a half-time person, had him prep two classes for this quarter. The dean withdrew her promise of the half-time position the week before classes started and said we had to pay the person adjunct wages instead of the halftime position (a difference of $25,000). We had to un-hire our half-time person who had spent all break prepping two classes. He'll never agree to work for us again.
I've seen that same scenario play out. What stupefied me was how easily the notion was reached and how little thought was put into what it meant for everyone involved.
That ought to be illegal. I know there's talk of a law requiring hourly-wage workers to be paid for a certain number of hours if they're scheduled to work and have their shift canceled at the last minute (e.g. because a weather event results in few customers); right now, in many places, a worker can travel to the work site, paying mass transit fare and/or using gas, and be told on arrival that (s)he isn't needed, with no compensation. That strikes me as a somewhat similar case. More generally, adjunct pay scales, schedules, etc. need to recognize that prepping the class is part of the job, and deserves to be compensated as such. I can't remember whether the issue was at least partly addressed in discussions about how much adjunct work counts as how many hours of actual work under the Affordable Care Act; even if so, it needs further attention, and there need to be consequences for employers who treat prep work as potentially disposable, even as they're requiring ever more elaborate syllabi, assignments, LMS sites, etc., etc.)
Of course, the powers that be will respond with an increased push for use of standardized course "packages," produced in-house or by the big publishers, that can be "taught" by pretty much everyone, possibly including a squirrel plucked off the rim of the nearest campus trash can. This would not, of course, result in high-quality teaching, but at least the squirrel might actually be satisfied with being paid peanuts (but probably wouldn't be happy if the peanuts were withdrawn after (s)he became accustomed to receiving them).
We had glorious workers' revolution, and our heavy-handed, micromanaging dean is now provost at another university, God help them. Likewise, a couple years ago we had other glorious workers' revolution, and our idiotic provost is now president at another university, God help them. Sharpen up the pitchforks and light up the torches, kids: they do work, even if there never seems to be any real accountability for these people.
The university I got my PhD at and adjunted for last semester has seen such a drop in enrollment that no adjuncts got hired for spring. None of them. And by the time we knew that, all the other colleges were either full up or in the same boat.
What's the rush? By my calculations you have at least a few more days of mascots. You're only in the A's!
ReplyDeleteMy dean promised us a half-time position in our department to cover some of the GE courses (our enrollment has gone up and we needed it). We built the schedule around that, hired a half-time person, had him prep two classes for this quarter. The dean withdrew her promise of the half-time position the week before classes started and said we had to pay the person adjunct wages instead of the halftime position (a difference of $25,000). We had to un-hire our half-time person who had spent all break prepping two classes. He'll never agree to work for us again.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that same scenario play out. What stupefied me was how easily the notion was reached and how little thought was put into what it meant for everyone involved.
DeleteThat ought to be illegal. I know there's talk of a law requiring hourly-wage workers to be paid for a certain number of hours if they're scheduled to work and have their shift canceled at the last minute (e.g. because a weather event results in few customers); right now, in many places, a worker can travel to the work site, paying mass transit fare and/or using gas, and be told on arrival that (s)he isn't needed, with no compensation. That strikes me as a somewhat similar case. More generally, adjunct pay scales, schedules, etc. need to recognize that prepping the class is part of the job, and deserves to be compensated as such. I can't remember whether the issue was at least partly addressed in discussions about how much adjunct work counts as how many hours of actual work under the Affordable Care Act; even if so, it needs further attention, and there need to be consequences for employers who treat prep work as potentially disposable, even as they're requiring ever more elaborate syllabi, assignments, LMS sites, etc., etc.)
DeleteOf course, the powers that be will respond with an increased push for use of standardized course "packages," produced in-house or by the big publishers, that can be "taught" by pretty much everyone, possibly including a squirrel plucked off the rim of the nearest campus trash can. This would not, of course, result in high-quality teaching, but at least the squirrel might actually be satisfied with being paid peanuts (but probably wouldn't be happy if the peanuts were withdrawn after (s)he became accustomed to receiving them).
We had glorious workers' revolution, and our heavy-handed, micromanaging dean is now provost at another university, God help them. Likewise, a couple years ago we had other glorious workers' revolution, and our idiotic provost is now president at another university, God help them. Sharpen up the pitchforks and light up the torches, kids: they do work, even if there never seems to be any real accountability for these people.
ReplyDeleteThe university I got my PhD at and adjunted for last semester has seen such a drop in enrollment that no adjuncts got hired for spring. None of them. And by the time we knew that, all the other colleges were either full up or in the same boat.
ReplyDelete*adjuncted. I blame these tiny buttons on my phone.
Delete