Adjunct Professors
by Caralee Adams
Each week, Chuck Whitten puts 600 miles on his car while shuttling between two college campuses in southern California, teaching five classes as an adjunct professor. A former broadcast journalist in Los Angeles, Chuck burned out on the TV business and turned to teaching for more stability and satisfaction. But that's not exactly what he found. While he loves working with students in his journalism and radio production classes, he's discovering that trying to piece together a full-time job as an adjunct instructor can be quite stressful.
For example, Whitten has no guarantee of how many classes–if any–he will be teaching each semester. And since he has no office, he has to meet with students in the hallway or the cafeteria. Because he has no health insurance, he ignores the growing need for dental work. And, at age 58, he has no retirement, no paid vacation. Although he's not complaining about his income of $44,000 this year, he is bothered by the disparity between full- and part-time salaries. "I'd hoped for full-time work at the colleges. I've applied, but not gotten hired," says Whitten. "They usually bring someone in from off the campus. I think it's futile."
Growing Trend
In the past 30 years, part-time faculty at U.S. colleges and
universities has jumped from 22 percent to 43 percent, according
to the National Center for Education Statistics. These
instructors average 37 hours a week and make 40 cents on the
dollar compared with full-time faculty—and most work
without benefits. But with the prospect of tighter college and
university budgets ahead, the use of part-time faculty is likely
to grow.
Adjunct instructors come from all walks of life. Many teach a class or two as they keep their regular jobs, while others are retirees or freelancers—and are content with part-time college employment. But an estimated 30 percent of adjuncts are aspiring academics trying to piece together full-time work. Dubbed "freeway flyers" or "road scholars," these adjuncts are challenged to eke out a livable wage. Frustrated by their lot in academic life, many are now organizing to push for better pay, benefits and job security.
The Adjunct Trap
They say the battle is one of fairness. When temporary
instructors are paid less for doing the same work as full-time
faculty, it creates a double standard as well as a sort of caste
system. "They are in a trap with no clear way out,"
says Boston adjunct Michael Dubson, editor of ‘Ghosts in
the Classroom: Stories of College Adjunct Faculty—and the
Price We All Pay’ (Camel's Back, 2001). "If an
angry, bitter person is in the classroom, it's working
against the college."
"But not all adjuncts go into teaching for the money," says Richard Lyons, co-author of ‘The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success’ (Allyn & Bacon, 1999). "Most adjuncts teach because they want to contribute, be intellectually stimulated, and meet interesting people. Adjuncts who become dissatisfied often have unrealistic expectations." To counter this, Lyons suggests that colleges need to help adjunct faculty learn to network with others to avoid the feelings of isolation and disappointment.
Due to the somewhat limited number of jobs in academia, many instructors aren't able to find full-time work, so teaching as an adjunct can offer a way in. "Part-timers put up with the low pay, lack of benefits and uncertainty because they hold out hope for permanent employment," says Dubson, who teaches six classes on three campuses. "And when they become disillusioned, it's hard to give up, given the amount of time already devoted to education." But, Dubson adds: "Being an adjunct, for all of its faults, is still rewarding and enjoyable."
Impact on Education
Some say that the quality of higher education suffers from the
growing reliance on part-timers, and that, because of their
constant juggling act, adjuncts are often not available to
students.
For example, Linda Cushing, a former adjunct art instructor in California, taught eight classes in one semester at various campuses. She describes the pressure to water down her courses and not be so tough on students. "I was making compromises," she says. "I was not revising curriculum."
That's not to say that adjuncts are poor teachers; many are regarded as better than tenured faculty because they must constantly prove themselves. And Lyons suggests that students are drawn to classes where the bar is raised, and that adjuncts are an invaluable resource on campus. "They often have more current, real-world experience than full-time faculty," adds Lyons.
While the impact of the growing reliance on adjunct faculty may be debated, many activists view the labor situation as a moral issue, while colleges tend to see it merely as a matter of economics. Universities not only save money, but they like the flexibility of using adjuncts, says Jamie Horwitz, spokesperson for the American Federation of Teachers. "It's an issue that higher education has swept under the rug," adds Horwitz. However, the fact that state legislatures are starting to study the issue has spurred action on many campuses.
Adjuncts Organizing
After six years as an adjunct, Cushing says she felt powerless
and disconnected. Although she was conservative and had no union
background, she got involved in organizing part-time faculty in
1998. Now, she is a full-time American Federation of Teachers
representative in California, and in 2001 helped convince state
legislators to spend $57 million to improve part-time faculty
pay. "It's very clear to me that what I am doing is
right," says Cushing.
In Illinois, Beverly Stewart helped organize a union of part-timers at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The group negotiated a better contract that brought her pay for teaching an English composition course from $2000 to $2900 a semester.
Certainly, not all part-time faculty are interested in unionizing. Dennis Santore, of Vero Beach, Florida, spent 32 years as a lawyer before taking up teaching at a local community college. Now 58 years old, the former prosecutor teaches one or two classes a semester on criminal law. His pay: $450 each. "It's not about the money. It's more about giving your life some structure and giving of yourself," he says.
While most of those involved in the movement acknowledge that the use of adjuncts will increase, many remain hopeful that conditions will improve. Horwitz predicts that there won't be the cadre of people willing to take part-time teaching. "It's going to be a trap for these colleges. Ultimately, it will affect the prestige of an institution. People will catch on after a while," he says.
