Don't believe me?

This is a bit outdated, but I think most of the problems discussed in this 1998 salon.com article are the same today, if they haven't worsened.

Becoming an Adjunct: Questions and Tips

If you plan on becoming a part-time college teacher, it's important to do your research. Some schools pay a lot more than others. Private schools tend to pay more than public schools, though this is not always the case. Also, public schools tend to be affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), which is a national teachers' union, while private schools are less likely to have unions. Again, this is not always the case, which is why it's important to ask questions...

Questions to Ask Before Taking a Job

1. How much do you pay per course?
2. How many courses can a part-time teacher accept in one term?
3. Do part-time teachers have a union at this school?
4. If so, how many classes must I teach before I am elligible for union membership? (Typically 2-4 courses, though sometimes it's on a term-by-term basis.)
5. Is there a pay raise associated with becoming a union member? (There usually is!)
6. Is there a limit to how many students can enroll in my class?
7. If not, will I receive an extra stipend for overcrowded classes? (This is especially important for humanities teachers who teach writing-intensive courses. You should have no more than 35 students in a course with lots of grading.)
8. How often do I get paid? (You might be surprised to learn that some schools pay their adjuncts only once or twice per term.)
9. What kind of interaction/support do part-time teachers get from full-time faculty members? (Some schools offer mentors for new teachers.)
10. Will I receive extra pay for mandatory meetings, office hours, or other required overtime? (You certainly should! Though most schools will NOT pay you for office hours. The typical stipend for mandatory meetings is $30-$40 per hour.)
11. How does your pay scale compare to other colleges/universities in the area?

If anyone can think of additional questions for new adjuncts to ask, I invite you to post them in the comments section.

Tips to Keep in Mind

You don't have to teach somewhere just because they offer you a class. I realize that most adjuncts don't have the luxury of turning down work, but remember that as the new semester approaches (especially the fall term), most departments scramble for adjuncts at the last minute.

It's a good idea to do a google search on schools in your area. There are probably many that you've never heard of, especially if you live in a big city. Art schools, liberal arts schools, private schools, religious institutions: they all teach "Intro to Whatever," which means they need adjuncts.

Don't wait for job postings to appear! Prepare a CV, find the email for the chair of your department, and send him or her a cover letter and attached CV directly.

Check out www.higheredjobs.com where you can find lists of open positions, full-time and otherwise, at schools all over the country.

Until next time... hang in there.

Welcome to Adjunct Nation!

If you spent tens of thousands of dollars on your advanced degree, Congratualtions! You are destined for a life of slave wages and debt that is virtually unparalleled among your highly-educated counterparts... More likely than not, you will become an adjunct and join the ever-growing ranks of academe's proletariat.

If you hadn't guessed, I am an adjunct. Don't get me wrong: I love teaching. There is nothing better than teaching college students, especially when you can truly reach one and make him or her think critically about whatever subject you're teaching. It's a great way to earn a living.

The problem is that so many of us are not earning a living.

This morning, I read Barbara Ehrenreich's essay entitled "CEOs vs. Slaves," in which she points out the growing division of labor in America between the top wage-earners and the bottom wage-earners. She specifically mentions the plight of adjunct teachers, as well as other highly-educated, under-paid workers, in her article. She says:

"Top ranked college professors ... enjoy salaries of several hundred thousand a year, often augmented by consulting fees and earnings from their patents or biotech companies. At the other end of the professoriate, you have adjunct teachers toiling away for about $5,000 per semester or less, with no benefits or chance of tenure."

She goes on to mention an adjunct in New York who commuted every day from a homeless shelter. The fact is that many highly-educated, brilliant teachers, with expensive student loans to pay off, get the short end of the stick every semester in the academic world. For many of us, it doesn't matter that we get stellar student evaluations, or that we have earned the respect of the full-time faculty for outstanding teaching. We continue to "toil" at wages far below the poverty level, often out-earned by waitresses and bartenders everywhere.

Even the best adjuncts have no job security. This goes far beyond the problem of not having a "tenure-track position." Most of us don't know from one week to the next whether we still have a job. When teaching is our primary means of making a living, this can be frustrating to say the least. For example, the head of your department might offer you a class for next term, maybe even two classes (aren't you lucky!), but the day before the new term begins, your classes are snatched away by Joe Full-Time Instructor, leaving you with no job for the next four months. This has happened at least once a term to me or someone I know.

The problem here is wide-spread. Universities depend significantly on part-time labor, especially for required, general-education courses. In many cases, this spells doom for students, since there is typically very little coordination among adjuncts in a given academic department, so the "general" courses become disparate. When a general course is a pre-requisite for a more advanced course, the students are literally at the mercy of an under-paid, over-worked, under-appreciated, and usually unobserved teacher.

Since I am sick of all the crap, I'm starting this blog to monitor the daily crises of typical adjuncts. I invite you all to post your horror stories, or your wonderful, redeeming stories, if such stories exist.

Until next time, hang in there.