tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post3072672838779492966..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Yesterday Being an Adjunct Got Real. From Alice the Adjunct.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8014749836494295542016-09-13T11:36:01.584-04:002016-09-13T11:36:01.584-04:00Alice, I don't have anything to add to all the...Alice, I don't have anything to add to all the wisdom on this page, just want to add one more voice to those who hear you. Curly Charlannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23056672530446637112016-09-13T10:54:42.246-04:002016-09-13T10:54:42.246-04:00Amen. Amen. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-69849329094404700982016-09-13T09:34:33.022-04:002016-09-13T09:34:33.022-04:00To many people, being a professor means a life of ...To many people, being a professor means a life of the mind, summers off, occasionally screwing some cute co-ed, and, if you're unlucky, ending up on an island with Bob Denver. The more people know about the state of academia, the better. That means tenured faculty acknowledging how good they (we) have it and telling parents of future college students who actually does most of the teaching. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88306425952994620842016-09-12T23:43:36.721-04:002016-09-12T23:43:36.721-04:00Another very real consideration: start thinking so...Another very real consideration: start thinking sooner rather than later about what you want/need the end of your career to look like. Given how long grad school often takes, the beginnings and ends of academic careers are closer together than those of many other careers, and, for those who don't make it onto the tenure track, precarity only gets scarier in your forties, fifties, and beyond.Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10363402107274541962016-09-12T23:43:23.674-04:002016-09-12T23:43:23.674-04:00Commiserations, Alice. It does really, really suc...Commiserations, Alice. It does really, really suck. And hanging out with fellow academics doesn't necessarily help. My circle of close friends is made up mostly of grad school classmates (loosely defined -- we're in different fields, but occupied the same living spaces) who ended up in the same major metropolitan area, and even we have to step carefully around the class divisions, sinceContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-69946896596120561122016-09-12T20:48:50.249-04:002016-09-12T20:48:50.249-04:00There are a few caveats to the "best job in t...There are a few caveats to the "best job in the world" assertion--one being that I've seen some tenured proffies endure decades of frustration being away from true friends and family. Over and over and over, trying to schedule and pay for flights back "home" for whatever family stuff is happening. A wonderful job, a vocation, is wonderful. But being 2,000 miles away Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51013863256565036042016-09-12T20:28:02.006-04:002016-09-12T20:28:02.006-04:00Being a tenured professor is, I think, the best jo...Being a tenured professor is, I think, the best job in the world. But if you can't get it, adjunct professor is not a second best. It's not a third best. It's a distant Nth, right above con artistry or Blackboard sales rep. <br /><br />My advice: think seriously about what you like. Then find a job that has some of that, without the poverty and heartbreak. As long as you're Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70412844309108105632016-09-12T20:27:57.550-04:002016-09-12T20:27:57.550-04:00Being a tenured professor is, I think, the best jo...Being a tenured professor is, I think, the best job in the world. But if you can't get it, adjunct professor is not a second best. It's not a third best. It's a distant Nth, right above con artistry or Blackboard sales rep. <br /><br />My advice: think seriously about what you like. Then find a job that has some of that, without the poverty and heartbreak. As long as you're Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-69844984064587618532016-09-12T17:59:29.333-04:002016-09-12T17:59:29.333-04:00My librarian friend is probably better described a...My librarian friend is probably better described as an administrator and trustee of the library and runs their foundation. She was a librarian but has evolved. <br /><br />And to all the others. Thank you. I am always hoping lightning will strike like it has for some of you and I may not be casting my job search widely enough in part just because of some 30s inertia. LOL. Alice the Adjunctnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-690738706722564662016-09-12T17:10:24.839-04:002016-09-12T17:10:24.839-04:00How the HELL does one get a part-time librarian jo...How the HELL does one get a part-time librarian job for $36K plus bennies????<br /><br />The most I ever made in one year was $34k (no bennies) by teaching 8 courses (between 2 schools and I think I had August off) plus a 5 hour per week part-time job that paid $20/hour. Not only was I exhausted, but I think it led to a nervous breakdown! (and with no bennies - and no guarantee of employment - Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-57099133461249743642016-09-12T13:17:18.569-04:002016-09-12T13:17:18.569-04:00Hey, Alice: Yup. If you want/need full time work...Hey, Alice: Yup. If you want/need full time work, adjuncting blows. I did it for six years. I always had a second job. I lived like a student--biking a lot, etc. I think I averaged about $15k a year. You learn to live close to the bone. A wise mentor told me to hang in there, that just when you're about to give up, then things will change. That's exactly what happened for me. I The Gognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55370136065342007382016-09-12T11:41:26.571-04:002016-09-12T11:41:26.571-04:00Oops. I meant to post that to MTurk. I've be...Oops. I meant to post that to MTurk. I've been outsourcing my CM comments because work has kept me too busy. And underpaid. Sorry.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25107291907934505042016-09-12T11:40:08.273-04:002016-09-12T11:40:08.273-04:00[[ Insert sympathetic comment here about truth-se...[[ Insert sympathetic comment here about truth-seekers and outcasts and light in the darkness. Then, append appropriate tangential comment about how supposed <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Tellers-Tale-Firebird-Sharon-Shinn/dp/0142407844" rel="nofollow">children's fiction</a> can sometimes be <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Little-Prince-Antoine-Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry/dp/0156012197" rel=Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49161058141735142072016-09-12T10:53:16.836-04:002016-09-12T10:53:16.836-04:00It's hard. I was an adjunct for three years. ...It's hard. I was an adjunct for three years. Lived with the folks. I was fortunate enough to be able to pack both semesters AND summer and make like 29 grand.<br /><br />Things moved super quickly for me. They offered me a full professorship and then, a mere months later, started a fellowship and made me Senior Fellow/Director of it. It's small, but the pay is a king's ransom Annie from Abelardhttp://www.webuyanycar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70862537987006026402016-09-12T09:39:05.560-04:002016-09-12T09:39:05.560-04:00I'm on record as saying I think this battle is...I'm on record as saying I think this battle is lost. I taught for a few years at a private liberal arts college about 15 years ago that prided itself on an unofficial no-adjunct policy. Everyone was full time, and VAPs made solid wages and got full benefits.<br /><br />Jut in that time my old department has gone from 0% first year classes taught by part-timers to 50%. And this is a place thatCompound Calicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059155949950433688noreply@blogger.com