The Fora: A Higher Education Community

This is a support thread for those who are adjuncts and need a place to discuss issues pertaining to being an adjunct.

This will be my only post on the thread.  Anyone who wants my comments will have to PM me to get them.

There was a thought about Adjunct Pride being a theme for a thread (or perhaps, this thread), as well as a "there is no need for such a thing" response. Well, I think when discussing adjunct issues, problems, the fighting for the long day, as well as for the people who are quite happy being adjuncts, there is a place for pride. I was an adjunct for a very long time (currently still in academia, not as an adjunct). Sometimes i was proud. What made me proud was having it together enough to do the travel, learn the students' names, and make a real contribution (appreciated and/or acknowledged or not) to the department.

One thing I've learned that a lot of "I'm all right, Jack" folks haven't--"Have you considered leaving your job" is a dumb, thoughtless question, right up there with asking childless couples if they've considered adoption. If we're complaining about the job in some way, shape, or form, then yes, genius, we've thought of leaving. What happens if we leave, and what are we leaving to are much deeper questions.

We have choices to make. Should we try to do a lot of extra work and get on committees, for example? That's not what the adjunct is paid for, that's for sure. But is it a connection, a possible way into "the show"? No answer or group of answers is going to be right for every adjunct, but I think one thing former adjuncts, happy adjuncts, angry adjuncts, pro-union adjuncts and not so pro-union adjuncts all should have in common is Pride. Our situations are different, sometimes weird, and sometimes incredibly taxing with little reward. And we show up. We keep our appointments. We talk to young people and we help them learn. Yes, let's be proud of that.

Hi little bongo (nice name!)

I agree. It makes a lot of sense to take pride in doing a good job.

BTW I've known at least one place where doing service helps getting promotions for adjuncts. I'm not sure how unusual that is.

Quote from: downer on September 12, 2019, 04:59:02 AM
Hi little bongo (nice name!)

I agree. It makes a lot of sense to take pride in doing a good job.

BTW I've known at least one place where doing service helps getting promotions for adjuncts. I'm not sure how unusual that is.

At my college to transition from PT to FT it's necessary because we need faculty to are willing to participate, not just hide in the classroom.

Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

We're also the first professors the students have, and also the easy targets, blamed for *retention problems.* Somebody's gotta get down in the trenches, sweat and take the blows.
Yet we are not the ones who dumb down the curriculum to scuttle more tuition payers through the line and on to graduation. We don't have that kind of authority.
Have pride, yes!

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 12, 2019, 04:31:27 PM

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

Don't you hate getting what you pay for? It's just not fair, is it.

My take on the whole situation, adjunct service is more than you deserve, but less than the students ought to need. that is, if they are students who have a real reason to be in college.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 12, 2019, 04:31:27 PM


There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

I do have regular office hours and try to be available to students. They deserve the same sort of attention they would get with any professor, tenure track or not.  It helps that I consistently get a full load of classes here. If someone only teaches one class for a small amount of money, it isn't reasonable to expect them to just be hanging around campus all day.

That said, though, I'm not full time, I'm not paid like I'm full time and as I have more family and life responsibilities, I've increasingly resolved to not act like I am. I'm not going to come to campus on days I don't teach and I'm certainly not going to feel obligated to do any committee work or attend any meetings. There's something insidious about expecting people to do unpaid work in the vague hope that they will eventually get a job.

I try to be helpful with my course offerings, a good colleague and a good teacher. Hopefully, I'm seen as someone who does their job and doesn't cause anybody trouble. I'd like to think that in the right circumstances that might get me something FT, but I'd be really naive to think there's any guarantee of that or that I should be doing a lot of unpaid work because I think it will get me a FT job.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 12, 2019, 04:31:27 PM

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

Right, and perhaps after they skid up to campus, they kick some righteous butt in their respective classrooms before skidding off to the next gig. And are office hours specifically required of the adjuncts? And do they have an office?

Yes, some adjuncts probably deserve that kind of derision, but it might be the culture of a particular school that brings out that which is best or worst. And I don't think there's a case where you can really fault someone for doing their job, and not doing what isn't their job--it's a valid response, and sometimes, yes, one that can stem from pride.

I'll also add that if I have any ninja moves as a now-tenured semi-successful academic, I learned many of them as an adjunct.

Quote from: little bongo on September 13, 2019, 07:33:54 AM

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 12, 2019, 04:31:27 PM

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

Right, and perhaps after they skid up to campus, they kick some righteous butt in their respective classrooms before skidding off to the next gig. And are office hours specifically required of the adjuncts? And do they have an office?

Yes, some adjuncts probably deserve that kind of derision, but it might be the culture of a particular school that brings out that which is best or worst. And I don't think there's a case where you can really fault someone for doing their job, and not doing what isn't their job--it's a valid response, and sometimes, yes, one that can stem from pride.

I'll also add that if I have any ninja moves as a now-tenured semi-successful academic, I learned many of them as an adjunct.

As do some FT faculty.

So, when seeking to hire adjuncts, do we want some who show that they will continue the "get tenure, do as little as you can get away with, retire, and die" culture? Or some who show that they will contribute to the betterment of the institution as a whole?

And then there are those who are eager beavers until they go FT/Tenured then decide "they can't fire me now!" But that's another conversation.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 13, 2019, 09:29:03 AM

So, when seeking to hire adjuncts, do we want some who show that they will continue the "get tenure, do as little as you can get away with, retire, and die" culture? Or some who show that they will contribute to the betterment of the institution as a whole?

And then there are those who are eager beavers until they go FT/Tenured then decide "they can't fire me now!" But that's another conversation.

I'd suggest that if an institution really wants people who are going to contribute outside of their classes, they need to give them a different role and pay them more. I try to be a good citizen within my purview; I spend a lot of time working with students, I write Rec letters, I try to be as helpful as I can about the courses I offer and the times I can teach them, and I've done some favors for people with extra stuff. But the "institution as a whole" has made a series of choices to not hire someone to work full time or give me any assurance of continuing employment. They could tell me next fall, "oh sorry, we cut the part time budget and don't have any classes for you." Given those realities, there's something really gross about an expectation that I'm supposed to be doing a lot of unpaid work in the vague hope that someone might notice and decide to employ me full time.

Quote from: Caracal on September 13, 2019, 04:29:02 PM

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 13, 2019, 09:29:03 AM

So, when seeking to hire adjuncts, do we want some who show that they will continue the "get tenure, do as little as you can get away with, retire, and die" culture? Or some who show that they will contribute to the betterment of the institution as a whole?

And then there are those who are eager beavers until they go FT/Tenured then decide "they can't fire me now!" But that's another conversation.

I'd suggest that if an institution really wants people who are going to contribute outside of their classes, they need to give them a different role and pay them more. I try to be a good citizen within my purview; I spend a lot of time working with students, I write Rec letters, I try to be as helpful as I can about the courses I offer and the times I can teach them, and I've done some favors for people with extra stuff. But the "institution as a whole" has made a series of choices to not hire someone to work full time or give me any assurance of continuing employment. They could tell me next fall, "oh sorry, we cut the part time budget and don't have any classes for you." Given those realities, there's something really gross about an expectation that I'm supposed to be doing a lot of unpaid work in the vague hope that someone might notice and decide to employ me full time.

The other piece of this is the absurd question 'why do you think this job or these jobs are supposed to provide a living to you.' Somebody thinks they are entitled to charity, or a steady, large supply of trained employees without needs or limits in their schedule and energy.

Quote from: Caracal on September 13, 2019, 04:29:02 PM

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 13, 2019, 09:29:03 AM

So, when seeking to hire adjuncts, do we want some who show that they will continue the "get tenure, do as little as you can get away with, retire, and die" culture? Or some who show that they will contribute to the betterment of the institution as a whole?

And then there are those who are eager beavers until they go FT/Tenured then decide "they can't fire me now!" But that's another conversation.

I'd suggest that if an institution really wants people who are going to contribute outside of their classes, they need to give them a different role and pay them more. I try to be a good citizen within my purview; I spend a lot of time working with students, I write Rec letters, I try to be as helpful as I can about the courses I offer and the times I can teach them, and I've done some favors for people with extra stuff. But the "institution as a whole" has made a series of choices to not hire someone to work full time or give me any assurance of continuing employment. They could tell me next fall, "oh sorry, we cut the part time budget and don't have any classes for you." Given those realities, there's something really gross about an expectation that I'm supposed to be doing a lot of unpaid work in the vague hope that someone might notice and decide to employ me full time.

Agreed. It's up to the faculty to decide if they think the percentage is worth it.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 13, 2019, 05:37:22 PM

Quote from: Caracal on September 13, 2019, 04:29:02 PM

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 13, 2019, 09:29:03 AM

So, when seeking to hire adjuncts, do we want some who show that they will continue the "get tenure, do as little as you can get away with, retire, and die" culture? Or some who show that they will contribute to the betterment of the institution as a whole?

And then there are those who are eager beavers until they go FT/Tenured then decide "they can't fire me now!" But that's another conversation.

I'd suggest that if an institution really wants people who are going to contribute outside of their classes, they need to give them a different role and pay them more. I try to be a good citizen within my purview; I spend a lot of time working with students, I write Rec letters, I try to be as helpful as I can about the courses I offer and the times I can teach them, and I've done some favors for people with extra stuff. But the "institution as a whole" has made a series of choices to not hire someone to work full time or give me any assurance of continuing employment. They could tell me next fall, "oh sorry, we cut the part time budget and don't have any classes for you." Given those realities, there's something really gross about an expectation that I'm supposed to be doing a lot of unpaid work in the vague hope that someone might notice and decide to employ me full time.

Agreed. It's up to the faculty to decide if they think the percentage is worth it.

There are some tenured faculty who are concerned about 'normalizing' adjunct faculty. As it was explained to me it means "to make the argument that adjunct labor, outside of exceptional circumstances, should be a regular part of higher education" . Thus if the adjunct faculty member is doing things that beyond what's on his contract, serving on a committee, service work, etc. then he's looking more and more like a a more affordable version of themselves.

https://www.theonion.com/matthew-mcconaughey-forced-to-apply-for-food-stamps-aft-1838073063

AUSTIN, TX—Struggling to scrape by on his meager salary, actor Matthew McConaughey was reportedly forced to apply for food stamps Thursday after his first month working as an adjunct professor. "Man, things have been really tough lately, but fortunately I qualify for some nutrition assistance," said the Academy Award-winning actor while filing the SNAP forms, explaining how he has been taking on some side gigs at the university's writing center as well as participating in studies at the psychology department just to make rent. "I'm really passionate about the material, but it sucks having to go to the dentistry school to get a cavity filled because I don't have insurance. Man, I hope I get approved soon, since I'm teaching a full course load and won't have as much time to make a few extra bucks selling my blood plasma." At press time, McConaughey was shoving some of the free bagels from a department event into his backpack to eat later.

Pretty funny bit on McConaughey--one of the few places where The Onion can still slightly exaggerate reality, I think.

I'm definitely seeing a lot of heavy duty 1880s-1910s attitudes toward adjuncts in particular, and labor in general on the other threads--kind of discouraging. It's a useful snapshot of what adjuncting means to Professional-Managerial Class. It's why I would submit that this business of making adjuncting work for you, or making it better, is largely a personal and solitary endeavor.

In some cases, maybe many cases, unions could indeed be helpful, pace the Pinkerton-style outpourings on other adjunct threads. I know our union keeps the fates and fortunes of our permanent as well as contingent full-time faculty together--one of the first things Administration puts on the table is something along the lines of, let's make the contingent faculty teach more classes to be considered full-time, for example, and we always say no (at least so far). I can't speak with the same authority or intelligence with regard to our part-timers--we haven't used a part-time professor in our department in several years. Even here, though, I think we're talking about a case-by-case, campus-by-campus basis rather than a general rule.

I know it's naive and simple--but irrespective of budget realities and how spending gets prioritized, I'd like to think that respect and dignity, which take nothing monetarily from any budget, should still be available to everyone who has a job to do and does it. 

Quote from: little bongo on September 18, 2019, 08:31:24 AM

I'm definitely seeing a lot of heavy duty 1880s-1910s attitudes toward adjuncts in particular, and labor in general on the other threads--kind of discouraging. It's a useful snapshot of what adjuncting means to Professional-Managerial Class. It's why I would submit that this business of making adjuncting work for you, or making it better, is largely a personal and solitary endeavor.

My frustration, as someone who teaches part-time alongside my "day job", comes from the fact that for many (most?) people doing part-time teaching as a part-time job, (as it is intended to be), it's a pretty fair deal. But saying that is seen as being insensitive (or worse) to people trying to do it as a full-time job (as it was NOT intended to be).

It's a bit like people taking prescription drugs in doses or for conditions that are not as prescribed, and then complaining about the resulting health problems.

I am happy to discuss things like pro-rated benefits which would help people who don't have full-time jobs, but I'm not going to jump on the institution-bashing bandwagon on behalf of people trying to do what was explicitly discouraged.

Quote
I know it's naive and simple--but irrespective of budget realities and how spending gets prioritized, I'd like to think that respect and dignity, which take nothing monetarily from any budget, should still be available to everyone who has a job to do and does it.

The people who get a lot of my respect are the people who, when unsatisfied with the results of the choices they've made, make different choices, rather than simply wring their hands and demand that other people change the outcome.

Quote from: little bongo on September 18, 2019, 08:31:24 AM

I know it's naive and simple--but irrespective of budget realities and how spending gets prioritized, I'd like to think that respect and dignity, which take nothing monetarily from any budget, should still be available to everyone who has a job to do and does it. 

I'm pretty sure the 'warm bodies' jargon that has been circulating around this forum recently would violate my department 'collegiality' requirement in the handbook.

Quote from: marshwiggle on September 18, 2019, 11:56:55 AM

Quote from: little bongo on September 18, 2019, 08:31:24 AM

I'm definitely seeing a lot of heavy duty 1880s-1910s attitudes toward adjuncts in particular, and labor in general on the other threads--kind of discouraging. It's a useful snapshot of what adjuncting means to Professional-Managerial Class. It's why I would submit that this business of making adjuncting work for you, or making it better, is largely a personal and solitary endeavor.

My frustration, as someone who teaches part-time alongside my "day job", comes from the fact that for many (most?) people doing part-time teaching as a part-time job, (as it is intended to be), it's a pretty fair deal.

Quote

Mahagonny: No, it's not a good deal for many. For many, the pay is rotten. that's why union votes tend to be 'yea.'

Quote from: marshwiggle on September 18, 2019, 11:56:55 AM
I'm not going to jump on the institution-bashing bandwagon on behalf of people trying to do what was explicitly discouraged.

Mahagonny: They don't discourage you. They let you know they don't want you to unionize. There's a big difference. Look at several the main arguments used against unionizing:
1. "There's no money to give you a raise or access to health insurance." But what many of us have experienced is they hire an expensive law firm that specializes in union avoidance. Then they drag the negations on for months, years. So they've conveyed to you that they have lots of money.
2. "Our college or university has a direct close relationship with its faculty. It would not be beneficial to bring in a third, outside party that is not versed in academic culture." But the administration thinks of you as a warm body, not a skilled professional. The culture is your problem. Thanks to the forum, I know this even better now. Besides, the chair doesn't even remember which one you are half the time in a big department.
3. "Unionizing won't bring enough of a gain to get you out of the trouble you're in. You need to get a full time job."  Of course they don't want me to get a full time job; they keep hiring me. Besides, I'm not sleeping my car. I just work hard and know my rights.

They don't want you to unionize, because it will cost them money, pure and simple. They pretend to care about you, but no one believes them.

Oh my, I did not realize that the story was rooted in reality:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/29/matthew-mcconaughey-will-be-professor-university-texas/

Hmmmm....

Maybe adjuncts can contact him and ask him to speak out about adjunct issues.  It never hurts to get a celebrity on your side.

Here's an experience in the academic life that is peculiar to adjunctdom. You have a Monday holiday, and school decrees that Tuesday will follow a Monday schedule that week.but you have other employment every Tuesday. So you are expected to be two places at once. Compounding the absurdity is the fact that your adjunct contract states that adjunct positions are intended for people who have another, 'primary' source of employment.
Sorry, I guess I'm railing against the system again. On the other hand, when the system does something stupid, with a potentially detrimental effect on the students' learning and also on the instructor's student evaluations of faculty, and then never even discusses it, is there some reason it should be exempt from criticism?
A dean once explained to me that the academic calendar works that way because it works out for full time faculty. Why shouldn't it work out for students?
How do you part time adjunct faculty handle this? I'm interested in hearing from people who are adjunct faculty currently.

Just assign online work for the Monday class that meets on Tuesday. Make sure that doing the assignment and grading it takes you no more time than preparing for and giving the regular class would.

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 07:14:49 AM
Just assign online work for the Monday class that meets on Tuesday. Make sure that doing the assignment and grading it takes you no more time than preparing for and giving the regular class would.

this is a good solution when it works. Unfortunately some classes taught by adjuncts are labs, performance related, or require a group of students being in the same room working together. It can be a significant deficit. Anything that is designed with the assumption that tenure track faculty and their work are the center of the universe is not going to change.

Quote from: mahagonny on October 12, 2019, 07:20:04 AM
Unfortunately some classes taught by adjuncts are labs, performance related, or require a group of students being in the same room working together. It can be a significant deficit. Anything that is designed with the assumption that tenure track faculty and their work are the center of the universe is not going to change.

I get the point about labs and performance classes, but even they can involve some online work, watching a relevant video and answering question, or doing some research. It may take some planning ahead.

To be honest, when classes are rescheduled for a different day I tend to just ignore the rescheduled class, as do many FT faculty too.

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 07:47:51 AM

To be honest, when classes are rescheduled for a different day I tend to just ignore the rescheduled class, as do many FT faculty too.

So they're using a defect in the system and the effect it has on us and our students as a background for getting away with taking an extra day off. These would probably be the same people who campaign against adjunct (part-time) hiring because we're not available enough to the students.

I think you can ignore the rescheduled class, but you're taking a chance it will show up as a ding in your course evaluations, which in our situation, without a union, you have no defense against.

Quote from: mahagonny on October 12, 2019, 08:14:16 AM

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 07:47:51 AM

To be honest, when classes are rescheduled for a different day I tend to just ignore the rescheduled class, as do many FT faculty too.

So they're using a defect in the system and the effect it has on us and our students as a background for getting away with taking an extra day off. These would probably be the same people who campaign against adjunct (part-time) hiring because we're not available enough to the students.

I think you can ignore the rescheduled class, but you're taking a chance it will show up as a ding in your course evaluations, which in our situation, without a union, you have no defense against.

Maybe. I've never seen any sign that any one gives a crap about the missing class.

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 09:55:59 AM

Quote from: mahagonny on October 12, 2019, 08:14:16 AM

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 07:47:51 AM

To be honest, when classes are rescheduled for a different day I tend to just ignore the rescheduled class, as do many FT faculty too.

So they're using a defect in the system and the effect it has on us and our students as a background for getting away with taking an extra day off. These would probably be the same people who campaign against adjunct (part-time) hiring because we're not available enough to the students.

I think you can ignore the rescheduled class, but you're taking a chance it will show up as a ding in your course evaluations, which in our situation, without a union, you have no defense against.

Maybe. I've never seen any sign that any one gives a crap about the missing class.

Apathy, like enthusiasm is contagious!

But thank you for your candid responses. not that you should feel you've confessed to anything other than fitting with the culture.

I do work at a community college which is very rule bound and I have to sign in for each class I teach. They definitely care a lot when adjunct faculty cancel classes. But they have never switched the day of a class -- I think they know that neither the faculty nor the students would be able to come, since everyone has other jobs.

I'm teaching at 3 schools. For Spring 2020 my classes are up at Banner (or the equivalent, at the one quirky school that uses knockoff versions of all the standard academic software.) 2 of them, but not at the third. At the third, the chair told me that he is working on it. I guess they want to keep their options open. Still, I'd like to get confirmation about my schedule soon.

When do other people see their Spring course assignments listed on Banner?

If Tuesday is supposed to follow a Monday schedule, then what happens to the regular Tuesday classes?  If they move to Wednesday, and Wednesday moves to Thursday, and Thursday moves to Friday, then doesn't Friday get left out?  Or is the idea just to skip all the Tuesday classes entirely?  I don't see how that brings any benefit over skipping the Monday classes entirely.  Not to mention that assuming that everyone will have all of Tuesday free to do their Monday schedule is ridiculous.  I imagine the students also have jobs and externally scheduled things that cannot just move over one day at the whim of the school.

Quote from: Hegemony on October 17, 2019, 08:46:11 AM
If Tuesday is supposed to follow a Monday schedule, then what happens to the regular Tuesday classes?  If they move to Wednesday, and Wednesday moves to Thursday, and Thursday moves to Friday, then doesn't Friday get left out?  Or is the idea just to skip all the Tuesday classes entirely?  I don't see how that brings any benefit over skipping the Monday classes entirely.  Not to mention that assuming that everyone will have all of Tuesday free to do their Monday schedule is ridiculous.  I imagine the students also have jobs and externally scheduled things that cannot just move over one day at the whim of the school.

It is often because some days are holidays and the school has to make up assigned meeting times in order to meet state or federal regulations. They can extend the length of the semester, at the start or the end, but the days they get to extend are the wrong weekdays. Hence the crazy switching around.

Quote from: downer on October 17, 2019, 09:31:34 AM

Quote from: Hegemony on October 17, 2019, 08:46:11 AM
If Tuesday is supposed to follow a Monday schedule, then what happens to the regular Tuesday classes?  If they move to Wednesday, and Wednesday moves to Thursday, and Thursday moves to Friday, then doesn't Friday get left out?  Or is the idea just to skip all the Tuesday classes entirely?  I don't see how that brings any benefit over skipping the Monday classes entirely.  Not to mention that assuming that everyone will have all of Tuesday free to do their Monday schedule is ridiculous.  I imagine the students also have jobs and externally scheduled things that cannot just move over one day at the whim of the school.

It is often because some days are holidays and the school has to make up assigned meeting times in order to meet state or federal regulations. They can extend the length of the semester, at the start or the end, but the days they get to extend are the wrong weekdays. Hence the crazy switching around.

It also is important for labs, where there is one a week. If missing "one day" of school means effectively missing one week of labs for a course, it's a big deal.

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 02:47:57 PM
I do work at a community college which is very rule bound and I have to sign in for each class I teach. They definitely care a lot when adjunct faculty cancel classes. But they have never switched the day of a class -- I think they know that neither the faculty nor the students would be able to come, since everyone has other jobs.

Isn't this whole thing just really poor planning? The reason four day weekends are usually MT is because of this exact issue. It is also why the semester sometimes starts on Wednesday, or something, and ends on Tuesday or Monday. It just seems really bizarre to try to move the class day.

Quote from: Caracal on October 17, 2019, 12:01:29 PM

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 02:47:57 PM
I do work at a community college which is very rule bound and I have to sign in for each class I teach. They definitely care a lot when adjunct faculty cancel classes. But they have never switched the day of a class -- I think they know that neither the faculty nor the students would be able to come, since everyone has other jobs.

Isn't this whole thing just really poor planning? The reason four day weekends are usually MT is because of this exact issue. It is also why the semester sometimes starts on Wednesday, or something, and ends on Tuesday or Monday. It just seems really bizarre to try to move the class day.

If faculty jobs were regular full time jobs, as they are in public K-12, then moving the class day should work out, since faculty expect to be available for teaching Monday through Friday.
I am reminded of Prytania2's post 'we shouldn't expect much from adjunct faculty because we don't pay them much.' So prioritizing teaching done by full time faculty would logically follow from there. This would mean that fixing the schedule so full time faculty have the right total number of class meetings during the semester is the goal. At the same time, if part time faculty are not going to/unable to appear during the week that the class day is moved, there is slippage in the rigor. This is bound to affect student's expectations of what may be required of them, generally. All of which is perfect excuse for eliminating the part-timer's job as soon as you have the funds to do it, although he has done nothing wrong. At the same time, we are being informed, upthread, that when days are moved, full time faculty are just as likely to blow off the class.
Who has merit here?  The adjunct who can't do anything right or the tenure track faculty who can't do anything that makes them less welcome than the part timer?

Quote
To be honest, when classes are rescheduled for a different day I tend to just ignore the rescheduled class, as do many FT faculty too.

Quote from: Caracal on October 17, 2019, 12:01:29 PM

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 02:47:57 PM
I do work at a community college which is very rule bound and I have to sign in for each class I teach. They definitely care a lot when adjunct faculty cancel classes. But they have never switched the day of a class -- I think they know that neither the faculty nor the students would be able to come, since everyone has other jobs.

Isn't this whole thing just really poor planning? The reason four day weekends are usually MT is because of this exact issue. It is also why the semester sometimes starts on Wednesday, or something, and ends on Tuesday or Monday. It just seems really bizarre to try to move the class day.

Sometimes this happens for other reasons. Occasionally in the Winter we've had a snow day, and the rescheduled classes are all on a specific day of the week at the end of term, but the schedule is for the weekday that was missed. There's no guarantee that the day when the classes could be scheduled would be the same weekday as the one that was lost.

Quote from: marshwiggle on October 18, 2019, 04:53:35 AM

Quote from: Caracal on October 17, 2019, 12:01:29 PM

Quote from: downer on October 12, 2019, 02:47:57 PM
I do work at a community college which is very rule bound and I have to sign in for each class I teach. They definitely care a lot when adjunct faculty cancel classes. But they have never switched the day of a class -- I think they know that neither the faculty nor the students would be able to come, since everyone has other jobs.

Isn't this whole thing just really poor planning? The reason four day weekends are usually MT is because of this exact issue. It is also why the semester sometimes starts on Wednesday, or something, and ends on Tuesday or Monday. It just seems really bizarre to try to move the class day.

Sometimes this happens for other reasons. Occasionally in the Winter we've had a snow day, and the rescheduled classes are all on a specific day of the week at the end of term, but the schedule is for the weekday that was missed. There's no guarantee that the day when the classes could be scheduled would be the same weekday as the one that was lost.

Yeah, my school handles this by specifying some Saturday as the make up day. Then they say something like "faculty can choose to hold classes on the make up day or specify an out of class assignment to fill the time." In other words, "wink, wink, just have some reading and put a few questions on it, stick it on the CMS for an attendance grade and call it a day..." This year, I noticed that the calendar had the make up day in case of poor weather as the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which tells you what you need to know...

We have a one week study break but those entitled, rude students do not allow me to have a holiday. Without discussing with me their problems first, they went straight to the department head. The head contacted me saying that one student contacted her to express "some concerns". I was asked to send an update about her situation. Then, on the next day, a friend of that student also contacted the head directly. The head again asked me for an update, write a report on them and also set up a meeting with the head to resolve the issues. I only get paid a few hours of teaching hours per week but countless hours have been spent on dealing with these entitled students. I lost my summer holiday as I had to write report and went to school just to meet with administrator about these students each semester. Now, they also expect me to spend my unpaid holiday to deal with students' issues. These two students skipped most of the classes, did not submit assignments on time, etc. That is their problems. I have been told that I cannot make the students in this college to come to school nor penalize them for not attending classes. Why I have to spend my unpaid holiday to write reports about them and chat with the head about them? Can't those students just wait until I go back to work?

Do it when it is convenient for you, not them. And focus on getting a job elsewhere.

Quote from: hamburger on October 22, 2019, 01:24:14 PM
Can't those students just wait until I go back to work?

Yes, they can.  You have control over how you spend your time.  As downer wrote, do it when it's convenient for you.

Quote from: downer on October 22, 2019, 02:27:10 PM
Do it when it is convenient for you, not them. And focus on getting a job elsewhere.

Yes, but also...you continue to have odd and unrealistic expectations about the timing of your workload. You shouldn't be dealing with grade complaining in the summer, but you know that you can't expect to have the week before finals off right? Student emails at the end of the semester are pretty annoying, but it isn't an unreasonable time for them to be contacting you. You're the instructor, so you have to field these questions and complaints, annoying thought they might be. If you want a job where nobody will ever bother you outside of "working hours," you should look for jobs outside of academia. Is it fair that you're paid a small amount of money as an adjunct on the premise that you are working part time and then expected to work as if you are a salaried employee? No, I don't think so, but that's the job.

Quote from: downer on October 22, 2019, 02:27:10 PM
Do it when it is convenient for you, not them. And focus on getting a job elsewhere.

There was one poster on the old forum (tenured, of course) who even said 'as soon as you get an adjunct job, you are supposed be looking for another job.' it's amazing to me what some people think they are entitled to. A job that no one should want to have, that helps to keep your department going, and also someone available to commit to it.

I am experiencing also hearing from others that chairs are not communicating with them. They are still getting work and teaching, but it is hard to get any info. This semester I only found out what what I'm teaching next semester by looking it up online -- the chair didn't email to say.

I guess the chairs are busy. But still, some minimal level of communication seems a part of the job.

I was usually renewed as an adjunct--it happened to me once that I wasn't. Communication just quietly stopped, and I just quietly didn't come back. It wasn't the most personal form of communication, but in its own way, I guess it accomplished what it set out to do.

Quote from: little bongo on October 31, 2019, 07:26:46 AM
I was usually renewed as an adjunct--it happened to me once that I wasn't. Communication just quietly stopped, and I just quietly didn't come back. It wasn't the most personal form of communication, but in its own way, I guess it accomplished what it set out to do.

Did the Chair ignore your emails or just never reach out to you for future scheduling?

I always write in the first month of a semester to inquire about scheduling for the next semester. I also often touch base at the end of a semester saying how things have gone and thoughts about future scheduling. When possible I will drop into the Chair's office once a semester to say hi.

Quote from: downer on October 31, 2019, 07:33:30 AM

Quote from: little bongo on October 31, 2019, 07:26:46 AM
I was usually renewed as an adjunct--it happened to me once that I wasn't. Communication just quietly stopped, and I just quietly didn't come back. It wasn't the most personal form of communication, but in its own way, I guess it accomplished what it set out to do.

Did the Chair ignore your emails or just never reach out to you for future scheduling?

I always write in the first month of a semester to inquire about scheduling for the next semester. I also often touch base at the end of a semester saying how things have gone and thoughts about future scheduling. When possible I will drop into the Chair's office once a semester to say hi.

Getting a steady, predictable number of credit hours each semester is hard to achieve even with a union. My attitude is, this means that as a working adjunct, part of your job is always looking for work. So your hourly wage should reflect the fact that although you're working now, you've never really obtained a regular job. Does anyone care? Does it actually work that way? Probably not. But that's no reason to stop telling people the truth.

Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2019, 08:05:07 AM

Quote from: downer on October 31, 2019, 07:33:30 AM

Quote from: little bongo on October 31, 2019, 07:26:46 AM
I was usually renewed as an adjunct--it happened to me once that I wasn't. Communication just quietly stopped, and I just quietly didn't come back. It wasn't the most personal form of communication, but in its own way, I guess it accomplished what it set out to do.

Did the Chair ignore your emails or just never reach out to you for future scheduling?

I always write in the first month of a semester to inquire about scheduling for the next semester. I also often touch base at the end of a semester saying how things have gone and thoughts about future scheduling. When possible I will drop into the Chair's office once a semester to say hi.

Getting a steady, predictable number of credit hours each semester is hard to achieve even with a union. My attitude is, this means that as a working adjunct, part of your job is always looking for work. So your hourly wage should reflect the fact that although you're working now, you've never really obtained a regular job. Does anyone care? Does it actually work that way? Probably not. But that's no reason to stop telling people the truth.

My post was about communication, not wages or even steady employment.

It was more the "never reach out to you for future scheduling," but there were Other Circumstances that made things pretty clear as well.

I would also agree that yes, if you're an under- and marginally employed adjunct, then your full time job is indeed looking for work. In this case, I get where the representatives of the Professional-Managerial Class on the fora are coming from--looking for work entails strategies, responsibilities, and analyses of where you are, where you want to be, and where you need to be.

Quote from: downer on October 31, 2019, 08:44:06 AM

Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2019, 08:05:07 AM

Quote from: downer on October 31, 2019, 07:33:30 AM

Quote from: little bongo on October 31, 2019, 07:26:46 AM
I was usually renewed as an adjunct--it happened to me once that I wasn't. Communication just quietly stopped, and I just quietly didn't come back. It wasn't the most personal form of communication, but in its own way, I guess it accomplished what it set out to do.

Did the Chair ignore your emails or just never reach out to you for future scheduling?

I always write in the first month of a semester to inquire about scheduling for the next semester. I also often touch base at the end of a semester saying how things have gone and thoughts about future scheduling. When possible I will drop into the Chair's office once a semester to say hi.

Getting a steady, predictable number of credit hours each semester is hard to achieve even with a union. My attitude is, this means that as a working adjunct, part of your job is always looking for work. So your hourly wage should reflect the fact that although you're working now, you've never really obtained a regular job. Does anyone care? Does it actually work that way? Probably not. But that's no reason to stop telling people the truth.

My post was about communication, not wages or even steady employment.

If I could look up the answer online in the middle of the semester, that would be better than what we have now. If they're putting in online they may consider your asking a bother. I would err in the direction of treading lightly.
Yes, chairs are busy. They certainly report that they are.

Quote from: little bongo on October 31, 2019, 10:06:04 AM
It was more the "never reach out to you for future scheduling," but there were Other Circumstances that made things pretty clear as well.

I would also agree that yes, if you're an under- and marginally employed adjunct, then your full time job is indeed looking for work. In this case, I get where the representatives of the Professional-Managerial Class on the fora are coming from--looking for work entails strategies, responsibilities, and analyses of where you are, where you want to be, and where you need to be.

I would probably get where they are coming from and accept it with good humor if they were not also letting it slip out that they insert themselves into the lives of adjunct faculty as they discuss collective bargaining options. This I consider socially aggressive and inexcusable. Evidence of this is all over the old CHE forum. And even before that information slipped out it could easily have been suspected from the verbose posting against union organizing.

Next semester I'm teaching a class that is meant for a certain program. I taught it last year too.

Unfortunately students not in the program also register for it, apparently despite requests that the registrar check before allowing them to register.

Last year there was quite a laborious process of notifying the students who should not be in the class to leave in the months before the start of the spring semester, in coordination with the coordinator of that program. And when spaces opened up in the class, other students not meant for the program would register, making it a Sisyphean task. I'm not prepared to do that again.

I wrote to the registrar and the coordinator of the program asking them to sort out the problem. They seem to prefer to do nothing.

So my plan is to just wait until the start of the semester and then weed out the students who should not be there, during drop/add week. It will probably be about a third of the registered students. It is not good for them, and I feel a little bad for them. But I don't see it as my job to do extra work to sort out the problems caused by other people's incompetence.

I guess that's a vent.

Quote from: downer on November 07, 2019, 05:44:21 AM
Next semester I'm teaching a class that is meant for a certain program. I taught it last year too.

Unfortunately students not in the program also register for it, apparently despite requests that the registrar check before allowing them to register.

Last year there was quite a laborious process of notifying the students who should not be in the class to leave in the months before the start of the spring semester, in coordination with the coordinator of that program. And when spaces opened up in the class, other students not meant for the program would register, making it a Sisyphean task. I'm not prepared to do that again.

I wrote to the registrar and the coordinator of the program asking them to sort out the problem. They seem to prefer to do nothing.

So my plan is to just wait until the start of the semester and then weed out the students who should not be there, during drop/add week. It will probably be about a third of the registered students. It is not good for them, and I feel a little bad for them. But I don't see it as my job to do extra work to sort out the problems caused by other people's incompetence.

I guess that's a vent.

Your magic registration system doesn't block for prereqs or instructor/chair approval?

Quote from: ciao_yall on November 07, 2019, 06:45:30 AM

Quote from: downer on November 07, 2019, 05:44:21 AM
Next semester I'm teaching a class that is meant for a certain program. I taught it last year too.

Unfortunately students not in the program also register for it, apparently despite requests that the registrar check before allowing them to register.

Last year there was quite a laborious process of notifying the students who should not be in the class to leave in the months before the start of the spring semester, in coordination with the coordinator of that program. And when spaces opened up in the class, other students not meant for the program would register, making it a Sisyphean task. I'm not prepared to do that again.

I wrote to the registrar and the coordinator of the program asking them to sort out the problem. They seem to prefer to do nothing.

So my plan is to just wait until the start of the semester and then weed out the students who should not be there, during drop/add week. It will probably be about a third of the registered students. It is not good for them, and I feel a little bad for them. But I don't see it as my job to do extra work to sort out the problems caused by other people's incompetence.

I guess that's a vent.

Your magic registration system doesn't block for prereqs or instructor/chair approval?

I guess there's a distinction between what it is capable of doing in principle and what the people in charge actually get it to do. I don't know what it could do in theory. I know what it does not actually do.

Quote from: ciao_yall on September 12, 2019, 04:31:27 PM

Quote from: little bongo on September 12, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Those are good examples of adjunct choices, with the college or university being helpfully transparent about what a PT adjunct aspiring to a full-time position with the uni is expected to do. Then we can make the choice to make the investment in that university--perhaps cutting another gig at another university, finding something non-academic at odd hours to supplement income until we succeed in getting the FT shot.

In other cases, such a path might not be as clear--an adjunct might consider taking a gamble with additional service in order for something to happen at that university, or at least to get a good reference for another application. If, for one or more reasons, the adjunct has some back-to-back courses each day at different locations, the service option doesn't work as well.

I do object to the phrase "hide in the classroom." Hide? Our classrooms are our stage, our battleground, our students' Point of Contact with Dickens' London, Hamlet's Elsinore, the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth, including the truth of numbers that become buildings, bridges, monuments, and our pathway to space and beyond. We do not hide; we have pride.

There are faculty who pretty much come skidding up to campus, teach their classes and flee as soon as class is over. They can't be bothered to serve on a committee but then complain when decisions are made they don't like, or just ignore the new policies and hope nobody will notice.

Office hours? Return phone calls or emails? Ha.

Not exactly the type one would want to have as a FT colleague. If they are interested in going FT, engage. It doesn't take that much time.

This is perhaps a bit late to respond to...but I was an adjunct and a staff member.  I engaged far more than I was paid, actually a fair amount of work.  When a job opened up I was passed over for a candidate with a better publishing section on the CV.  Engagement got me nothing. When I became a mercenary bastard and wrote my little heart out, then I started getting phone calls.  I see the wisdom in what you are saying, but the reality is that good intentions will always be trumped by a plump CV.

Hi, in my CC, the word "Adjunct" is not included in any academic titles. All teaching staff have the title "Professor" even most of them do not have a PhD nor a Master's degree. I heard that some only graduated from a two year program in the same CC. Others are from the industry. I am paid by the number of class hours per semester. I need to wait until the last minute, sometimes even the semester has started, before I could tell if I would have a job for the next 3.25 months. In this case, am I an Adjunct? Are those part-timers in universities whose teaching contract is only one semester long also Adjuncts? What are the pros and cons being an adjunct in a CC vs. in a university?

Quote from: hamburger on November 09, 2019, 11:24:52 AM
Hi, in my CC, the word "Adjunct" is not included in any academic titles. All teaching staff have the title "Professor" even most of them do not have a PhD nor a Master's degree. I heard that some only graduated from a two year program in the same CC. Others are from the industry. I am paid by the number of class hours per semester. I need to wait until the last minute, sometimes even the semester has started, before I could tell if I would have a job for the next 3.25 months. In this case, am I an Adjunct?

Yes. 

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 11:28:47 AM

Quote from: hamburger on November 09, 2019, 11:24:52 AM
Hi, in my CC, the word "Adjunct" is not included in any academic titles. All teaching staff have the title "Professor" even most of them do not have a PhD nor a Master's degree. I heard that some only graduated from a two year program in the same CC. Others are from the industry. I am paid by the number of class hours per semester. I need to wait until the last minute, sometimes even the semester has started, before I could tell if I would have a job for the next 3.25 months. In this case, am I an Adjunct?

Yes.

:-(

Quote from: hamburger on November 09, 2019, 11:30:35 AM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 11:28:47 AM

Quote from: hamburger on November 09, 2019, 11:24:52 AM
Hi, in my CC, the word "Adjunct" is not included in any academic titles. All teaching staff have the title "Professor" even most of them do not have a PhD nor a Master's degree. I heard that some only graduated from a two year program in the same CC. Others are from the industry. I am paid by the number of class hours per semester. I need to wait until the last minute, sometimes even the semester has started, before I could tell if I would have a job for the next 3.25 months. In this case, am I an Adjunct?

Yes.

:-(

But that doesn't mean you're not super cool.  That just means our educational system is teetering into degeneracy for good people like you and me and the rest of us.  Go publish some stuff!  Get a FT job and show them bastards what they lost!

Thanks. So publishing is the best and perhaps the only way to get out of this adjunct trap or adjunct hell? We had postdoc trap. Now adjunct trap. Perhaps later on when more and more of those rude and entitled low quality students come out to the society, the world will become even worse? Few months ago, I had a technician coming to my home to repair the internet connection. Then both the phone and internet stopped working. Another two guys came and found that this technician connected several wires incorrectly.

I have been working in this CC for 1.5 years. Not sure if I should just quit now, after this term or continue to work here while looking for the next job.  The career is not rewarding as many people have been around for over 15 years and they are still part-timers. Here, an average joe can also be a "Professor". Even a student advisor became a Professor recently. Those who came before me got higher internal credentials regardless of their academic qualifications nor teaching experience. Promotion is based on some unwritten factors. I found it ridiculous that the school hired some people with low academic qualifications and outside STEM to work for HR to filter out applicants for FT faculty positions in the initial selection process.

Sorry.  That's my only real advice.  I'm not sure it's valid any more and is discipline dependent.  The best advice is to pursue a career outside of academia----if that if that is possible for you.

What's too bad is that we are allowing this to happen to our educational system.

Quote from: downer on November 07, 2019, 06:49:30 AM

Quote from: ciao_yall on November 07, 2019, 06:45:30 AM

Quote from: downer on November 07, 2019, 05:44:21 AM
Next semester I'm teaching a class that is meant for a certain program. I taught it last year too.

Unfortunately students not in the program also register for it, apparently despite requests that the registrar check before allowing them to register.

Last year there was quite a laborious process of notifying the students who should not be in the class to leave in the months before the start of the spring semester, in coordination with the coordinator of that program. And when spaces opened up in the class, other students not meant for the program would register, making it a Sisyphean task. I'm not prepared to do that again.

I wrote to the registrar and the coordinator of the program asking them to sort out the problem. They seem to prefer to do nothing.

So my plan is to just wait until the start of the semester and then weed out the students who should not be there, during drop/add week. It will probably be about a third of the registered students. It is not good for them, and I feel a little bad for them. But I don't see it as my job to do extra work to sort out the problems caused by other people's incompetence.

I guess that's a vent.

Your magic registration system doesn't block for prereqs or instructor/chair approval?

I guess there's a distinction between what it is capable of doing in principle and what the people in charge actually get it to do. I don't know what it could do in theory. I know what it does not actually do.

No one wants to ask the registrar to do something that makes his job even more onerous than it is now, even though you need it, the students need it, and it's the logical solution.
If you follow what administrators say to each other about management of adjunct faculty, sooner or later one of them will say 'let the adjunct run the situation in whatever way they deem appropriate. They will want to because they have stake in the outcome." It sounds like they're being easy going and trusting and flattering you. What it is is code for 'let them fix it, somehow.' The chair, et al, are just like the registrar. They consider themselves overworked. You've been *fixing* the problem. So from their perspective, everything's working as it should.
If you had tenure you say 'this is bullshit.' We need new prodecures. They would have to accommodate you if you held your ground.
If you are a 'smart' adjunct (who also has good luck) you will use your ability to make dysfunctional situations appear fine as a way to move into a full time position. I've seen people do that, and I've heard chairs talk about them. In glowing terms. 'Steve has this thing he does with that class --- I don't know what it is exactly. He's got the students going through all the right steps. It's something he figured out.' This will be spoken with a sense of elation and amazement.

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 12:25:34 PM
Sorry.  That's my only real advice.  I'm not sure it's valid any more and is discipline dependent.  The best advice is to pursue a career outside of academia----if that if that is possible for you.

What's too bad is that we are allowing this to happen to our educational system.

And I'd go further since I have less tact than you. What's too bad is what you said and also the type of people who are attracted to administrative positions where the the policies that have produced this result get implemented and reinforced.
See I have this subversive idea that when the proliferation of dead end jobs and the search for suckers who will fill them is seen as a solution, there may well be anti-social types in the vicinity.

Quote from: mahagonny on November 09, 2019, 01:50:04 PM
What's too bad is what you said and also the type of people who are attracted to administrative positions where the the policies that have produced this result get implemented and reinforced.
See I have this subversive idea that when the proliferation of dead end jobs and the search for suckers who will fill them is seen as a solution, there may well be anti-social types in the vicinity.

See, this is a question that has always boggled me a bit. 

Most administrators have worked their way up through the ranks----they've been part of the hoi polloi.  They know or should know the stakes.  I am sure that once one's job entails balancing a limited budget and doing the bidding of the upper echelon, perspectives and motivations change, but I am still surprised at how little fight or innovation there is in the officer corps.  I'm sure Polly will have a lot to say on this count.

On the other hand, when I see a provost who flowered from a business program I cringe and make mystic signs of protection.

This probably deserves its own thread...

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 02:53:40 PM

Quote from: mahagonny on November 09, 2019, 01:50:04 PM
What's too bad is what you said and also the type of people who are attracted to administrative positions where the the policies that have produced this result get implemented and reinforced.
See I have this subversive idea that when the proliferation of dead end jobs and the search for suckers who will fill them is seen as a solution, there may well be anti-social types in the vicinity.

See, this is a question that has always boggled me a bit. 

Most administrators have worked their way up through the ranks----they've been part of the hoi polloi.  They know or should know the stakes.  I am sure that once one's job entails balancing a limited budget and doing the bidding of the upper echelon, perspectives and motivations change, but I am still surprised at how little fight or innovation there is in the officer corps.  I'm sure Polly will have a lot to say on this count.

On the other hand, when I see a provost who flowered from a business program I cringe and make mystic signs of protection.

This probably deserves its own thread...

My attitude towards administrators:

First year: I'm glad I met you
Sixth year: I wish I had met you somewhere else.
Eleventh year: Never mind.

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 02:53:40 PM
This probably deserves its own thread...

Right...if I'm gonna talk about people they should have their turn to tell their side of things. Polly has heard the complaints and responded with a Polly-free zone here. So maybe another thread, but in a way I would dread it.

My impressions of the condition of higher education were formed before I read the CHE fora. They have not changed. My perspective is limited. But that's the point also. Part time faculty labor in isolation. There is more (success) that depends on us than meets the eye.

QuoteOn the other hand, when I see a provost who flowered from a business program I cringe and make mystic signs of protection.

My impression, no matter whether the provost is from business or whether he's a poet or a sculptor, he's there because he wants the provost gig. There will always be a bottom rung of "outsider" faculty whose judgment is called into question by the mere fact that they accepted the terms offered. There is no to truthful way make this work out.

So one school where I work has decided to switch to putting student course evaluations online. This is not unusual, but other places do it in a smart way, sending out emails directly to students and giving each a unique identifier so they know the student has done the evaluation. Each student can do the evaluation only once.

By way of contrast, this school is just providing a link to a survey site for each course. Each student can fill it out as many times as they like. And of course, I can also fill it out as many times as I like. Maybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

I won't hesitate to give myself some glowing evaluations.

Are other schools this dumb?

Quote from: downer on November 11, 2019, 07:16:44 AM
So one school where I work has decided to switch to putting student course evaluations online. This is not unusual, but other places do it in a smart way, sending out emails directly to students and giving each a unique identifier so they know the student has done the evaluation. Each student can do the evaluation only once.

By way of contrast, this school is just providing a link to a survey site for each course. Each student can fill it out as many times as they like. And of course, I can also fill it out as many times as I like. Maybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

I won't hesitate to give myself some glowing evaluations.

Are other schools this dumb?

Maybe suggest that they just provide a link to Rate My Professor dot com?

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 09:29:27 AM

Quote from: downer on November 11, 2019, 07:16:44 AM
So one school where I work has decided to switch to putting student course evaluations online. This is not unusual, but other places do it in a smart way, sending out emails directly to students and giving each a unique identifier so they know the student has done the evaluation. Each student can do the evaluation only once.

By way of contrast, this school is just providing a link to a survey site for each course. Each student can fill it out as many times as they like. And of course, I can also fill it out as many times as I like. Maybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

I won't hesitate to give myself some glowing evaluations.

Are other schools this dumb?

Maybe suggest that they just provide a link to Rate My Professor dot com?

Tempting. In an email to the President. I am at the stage with this school, which seems to be doing OK financially, that I need to get paid more if they want my services. Which is tantamount to saying I won't work there any more.

Quote from: downer on November 11, 2019, 07:16:44 AM
So one school where I work has decided to switch to putting student course evaluations online. This is not unusual, but other places do it in a smart way, sending out emails directly to students and giving each a unique identifier so they know the student has done the evaluation. Each student can do the evaluation only once.

By way of contrast, this school is just providing a link to a survey site for each course. Each student can fill it out as many times as they like. And of course, I can also fill it out as many times as I like. Maybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

I won't hesitate to give myself some glowing evaluations.

Are other schools this dumb?

Dumb and unprofessional and not fair to you. You shouldn't have clean up this mess. Our student evaluations of faculty start out identifying the purpose (or used to anyhow). They're not consumer reports for students to help them with shopping. They are individual private communications to you and the department.  Of course students talk to each other about us anyway but no one can sound off multiple times pretending to be different people. This is deceptive to students also.

QuoteMaybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

Just use a different computer each time.

Quote from: mahagonny on November 11, 2019, 12:28:45 PM

QuoteMaybe they have some tracking of IP addresses, but that is not hard to bypass.

Just use a different computer each time.

That won't help if they all go through the same modem. There are extensions for Chrome that hide your IP address, and then there is hidemyass.com . All without needing to lift my ass from my couch.

Quote from: downer on November 11, 2019, 09:55:09 AM
I am at the stage with this school, which seems to be doing OK financially, that I need to get paid more if they want my services. Which is tantamount to saying I won't work there any more.

Amen, brother or sister!

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 12:44:42 PM
Amen, brother or sister!

"Sibling" doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? How about "Sib!"

Quote from: downer on November 11, 2019, 01:21:56 PM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 12:44:42 PM
Amen, brother or sister!

"Sibling" doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? How about "Sib!"

Dealeo, Sib!

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 09:29:27 AM
Maybe suggest that they just provide a link to Rate My Professor dot com?

I checked my RMP for that school, where I have taught for 3 years now. Not a single rating for me on RMP there. These are not students with a lot of initiative. I am wondering what their response rate will be for the "official" survery course evaluations.

Quote from: mahagonny on November 09, 2019, 08:39:08 PM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 09, 2019, 02:53:40 PM
This probably deserves its own thread...

Right...if I'm gonna talk about people they should have their turn to tell their side of things. Polly has heard the complaints and responded with a Polly-free zone here. So maybe another thread, but in a way I would dread it.

My impressions of the condition of higher education were formed before I read the CHE fora. They have not changed. My perspective is limited. But that's the point also. Part time faculty labor in isolation. There is more (success) that depends on us than meets the eye.

QuoteOn the other hand, when I see a provost who flowered from a business program I cringe and make mystic signs of protection.

My impression, no matter whether the provost is from business or whether he's a poet or a sculptor, he's there because he wants the provost gig. There will always be a bottom rung of "outsider" faculty whose judgment is called into question by the mere fact that they accepted the terms offered. There is no to truthful way make this work out.

Hi--I am writing from the perspective of someone who recently worked as an adjunct and is now an administrator.  I am deeply concerned about fair treatment of adjuncts, having lived through that experience for years.  I have a couple of points to make:

1.  I'm at a great school, in a position I love, with wonderful colleagues.  The work is fun and challenging.  I feel respected by upper admin and I respect them.  But I don't make more money than I did as an adjunct.  In fact I make less.  This is partly because benefits are taken out, which they didn't used to be, so that's kind of a privilege.  But it's also because admin don't always really earn that much.  Disclaimer, I'm not a Provost.

2. In my one meeting with a very very high-up senior official at the school, I made a point of bringing up my concern about the treatment of adjuncts as part of our conversation.  He politely heard me out and had a sensitive and intelligent if not unexpected rejoinder.  So, not all admin are going to be chucking the issue of parity for adjuncts, and my experience was that the very very high-up person will respectfully hear us out.  I will keep chipping away at this issue somehow.  I bet there are more admin just like me who feel dedicated to making this point, and bit by bit maybe it will have some kind of impact.

3.  I now see the budget constraints that schools (even reasonably successful ones) are facing with much greater clarity.  Frightening.  The temptation to keep the status quo in place is coming from a real place of need.  There must be some way to mesh this unfortunate reality with parity and justice for all professors.

4.  At my last adjunct job, the important upper admin guy, whom I got to know pretty well and liked, asked me "I don't understand--you're really good at teaching, you do great work in your field, why do you still work here?"  For some reason this wasn't the wake-up call it should have been and I adjuncted for several more years.  I just liked the college, the location, my "colleagues", the students...oops.

Anyway, I have my fingers crossed for a day when things change...because being a contingent worker in the intellectual economy is based on a series of painful internal contradictions, and it's not fair.

Quote from: revert79 on November 13, 2019, 03:35:18 AM

3.  I now see the budget constraints that schools (even reasonably successful ones) are facing with much greater clarity.  Frightening.  The temptation to keep the status quo in place is coming from a real place of need.  There must be some way to mesh this unfortunate reality with parity and justice for all professors.

The simple, but unpleasant, answer is that there is a great variation in the number of students taught per faculty member. Financially there is a lower limit to that number that is sustainable, and that limit is unfortunately higher than what will give full-time jobs to everyone who wants one. Whether adjuncts are paid more, or eliminated entirely in favour of more full-time positions, there will be many fewer positions than candidates.

And the less variation in the number of students taught per faculty member, the more fair things will be. But that can of worms is the size of a battleship.

Quote from: downer on November 12, 2019, 06:47:26 AM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 09:29:27 AM
Maybe suggest that they just provide a link to Rate My Professor dot com?

I checked my RMP for that school, where I have taught for 3 years now. Not a single rating for me on RMP there. These are not students with a lot of initiative. I am wondering what their response rate will be for the "official" survery course evaluations.

You do not want to be on RMP. Trust me on this.

Quote from: Aster on November 13, 2019, 06:14:30 AM

Quote from: downer on November 12, 2019, 06:47:26 AM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on November 11, 2019, 09:29:27 AM
Maybe suggest that they just provide a link to Rate My Professor dot com?

I checked my RMP for that school, where I have taught for 3 years now. Not a single rating for me on RMP there. These are not students with a lot of initiative. I am wondering what their response rate will be for the "official" survery course evaluations.

You do not want to be on RMP. Trust me on this.

Oh I am on RMP for other schools. I gave myself some glowing reviews there too.

From The Onion, so "satire" alert. I think there's something for all sides to laugh at...

https://local.theonion.com/college-freshman-annoyed-about-having-to-room-with-47-y-1839807313

Wagner College has supposedly increased the teaching load of full-time faculty from 3-3 to 4-4 for at least the next two years, without change to salary. I guess that means bye-bye for a lot of adjuncts.

I've just participated in the second of two very good conference sessions at K'zoo on adjunct experiences for medeivalists.

Just to say that it's not under the radar in some quarters.

(I also referred them to the fora....)

M.

Quote from: mamselle on May 13, 2021, 03:35:13 PM
I've just participated in the second of two very good conference sessions at K'zoo on adjunct experiences for medeivalists.

Just to say that it's not under the radar in some quarters.

(I also referred them to the fora....)

M.

Do you have insights you could share with us from the conference?

Yes.

In some ways, they were saying many of the same things that are often noted here. Some also blended with the issue of independent scholars, which not all were.

Strongest take-awy from both: "Play with the hand you've been dealt. Life won't be fair, but you'll get farther if you find a niche, work your way into it, and then out of it to the next, rather than pouting" (summarized).

From the two panels combined:

1. One couple (both Ph.Ds in different fields) presented together, and had clearly been level-headed and wise ever since meeting as grad students and marrying before they had their degrees. She finished first, and was adjuncting in her field while he was finishing up. He interviewed at the same school she was adjuncting at, was hired for a TT position, and is up for tenure in 3 years.

The school originally told them that they had a FT, maybe even TT position opening up for her. She continued to adjunct while awaiting a call to this position, which dematerialized after a semester or so. She saw they weren't following through on it, and continued her adjunct teaching; they were both very discouraged by the misleading suggestion (one might say, "lie") that she would have a TT as well, and considered leaving but decided to stay where they were since his position was secure.

She leveraged out of it by getting a position the next year in the advising office, then becoming the advising manager, and is now (having just heard after a second interview this AM) that a "next-step-up" admin position is about to be decided. No certainties, but she seems to have found a good-enough ladder upon which (as the moderator noted) she could one day move up through the admin ranks and end up being her husband's boss. 

So, she still teaches a course or two a year in areas she wants to teach in, is not expected to teach intro courses anymore, and since they have two kids (one born two weeks after she defended, apparently) the 9/5-ish schedule eases up her expectations while allowing them both to do what they wanted.

So, flexibility and seeing the writing on the wall right away worked well for them. The school's day-care's pandemic closure has made things difficult; they are both doing child-care and teaching from home. Their "two-body problem" had become a "four-body problem" (their second child was born a year after he took the new job) but it seems to have worked out.


2. Another fellow tried several times to get an interview at a school near the one he finished at, even for adjuncting. But because his degree was in, say, medieval history, the HR department figured he couldn't also teach, say, Global history (those weren't the topics, but for-instance) when he'd minored in another area that would have given him good exposure in the second field.

HR didn't know how to interpret it, so didn't forward his CV to the history department when openings arose. (moral here: if you're not applying for a posted position, the advice was send your materials directly to the relevant department, not HR, or to send them to both).

Because he also knew someone who taught in the school, he took them to lunch and asked what he could do to strengthen his application materials or his cover letter. The fellow apparently went to HR, explained the oversight, and he was hired the next term.

The irony is that, in a very small, 5-person department, the year after that, the only TT person in that program's faculty didn't want to become chair.

So the presenter was asked to take on the chair's position (with an appropriate bump in funding) for two years. It's unclear how that will play out--he wasn't interviewed for a TT opening in a related area recently, but a couple of us reminded him that the "courtesy interview" is an invention of hopeful adjuncts, not a likely reality; that embitterment was a waste of time and heart cells; and that he would do best to look forward to other options, using his upgraded position to apply out.


3. One fellow was on both panels. A medieval sociologist, he found a position with the state historical society developing materials on First Peoples' sites, and translated that to his current position as director of interpretation with oversight of docents and paid guides. He still has occasion to do research, present, and publish his findings in areas of interest, either is own, or those related to his site.

I believe this was after a few years' adjuncting in which, as another presenter noted, the assumption continued to be made that people with background in later historical periods could teach earlier ones, but not the other way around (when in fact, we all agreed, medievalists are MUCH better trained to be able to cover ANY historical subject, early or late, that all those other folks...[/joke])

He had also done work before being hired towards developing a podcast series on his medieval studies topics, which he continues; and suggested the need to a) see your colleagues as an asset, not the competition; b) ask yourself "What would I do if I weren't afraid?" and c) "Always be a cat and land on your feet."


4. The point of one panel was on collaboration between adjunct and permanent staff to the furtherment of the adjunct's career. One person there had worked in a shared IT capacity on a limited-term project developing web pages that used their medieval expertise and their computer knowledge on pages in the school's overall site--think, institutes or regional programs on particular topics, etc.

They felt that, besides being paid, one should carve out time to reach out to those in a capacity to further your own work (i.e., research, papers, etc.). He found it important to actively--but not too aggressively--find collaborators for later work, or even free-lance connections for whom he could do personal websites after leaving the position, as well.

He said faculty assumed he would always be around and would talk about working towards, say, a three-year collaboration plan when he'd have to remind them he'd only be there on campus for two years, per his contract. He thought it was important to impress on them the impermanent nature of the work from the start, to be sure they understood and didn't take his on-campus presence for granted.

He also suggested having a personal email that you only gave to potential collaborators in order to have a long-term connection with them, since email connectivity was discontinued so soon after leaving.* By getting them in the habit of using it, those you plan to work with later won't hold off, fearing they'll "bother you," because otherwise they're almost too considerate, when he'd rather be "bothered."

His takeaways were, "collaboration has to be a two-way street" and "TT faculty are used to thinking you'll always be there. Don't let them think that." Be in charge of your own coding: Tell them/show them/direct them in how to see you as a potential collaborator whose limited time presence suggests they should start working with you sooner rather than later.


5. Another presenter on that panel looked at their on-campus presence as ground from which to seek out collaborations a) on-campus; b) in conferences; c) in less formal communicative cells of like-minded/trained friends with whom to develop work. For a) they suggested developing conversations around across-the-board concerns like talking with folks about how they're handling covid constraints, or getting research done, or encouraging gender/race/ability diversity and sensitivity in the classroom within fields that might not be obviously connected--pertinent topics on which they could have significant conversations and within which they might find common ground.

This person also said, "Keep asking," having received travel support for conference presentations only after asking every year for four years. Once established, it was continued.

They also said, within reason, and done honestly, it was sometimes not a bad thing to point out that because of their position, they couldn't offer a class some benefit a TT prof could offer so they could 'see the struggle' firsthand (I'm not sure I agree on this, I think it could backfire massively).

They also mentioned a couple of online groups of colleagues that support each other within particular topics of interest, "The Lone Medievalist," and (I think this is someone else, but my notes say, "The 5-in-1 Medievalist.")


6. A chat-conversation was also going on, with people sharing how much the schools they adjuncted at did or didn't support their work, either with invitations to participate in conferences, use of school resources, etc.--that ranged from nothing to rather substantial levels of support--none paid for research or presentation travel directly; a couple folks had received stipends for extra work that they applied to those purposes.)     

One person seemed outraged that no-one had invited them to be a keynote speaker at an international conference, but...I think that comes under "unhelpful, chip-on-the-shoulder magical thinking...." There are independent scholars with that kind of reputation, but this wasn't one of them...

Respectfully submitted,

M.



*on the other hand, the last place I adjuncted at keeps my email live, having me change my password every 6 months, no other questions asked....so I do. Their IT guy says it's easier to do that than re-start an adjunct account, so unless they're told the person will never be re-hired under any circumstances, they just let it go. Their bookstore keeps telling me how much they miss me...)

Very interesting!  Thank you.

I had a lot of words to read before I got to "encouraging gender/race/ability diversity and sensitivity" but it was worth the wait. Once again, having empathy for a fellow human being is a brand new idea.

Quote from: mahagonny on May 13, 2021, 08:49:24 PM
I had a lot of words to read before I got to "encouraging gender/race/ability diversity and sensitivity" but it was worth the wait. Once again, having empathy for a fellow human being is a brand new idea.

There was also an excellent session on diversity and inclusion in teaching global medieval art history topics. My only issue with it was that the state school I attended was already addressing those issues in the 1970s, with dancers-in-residence from Ghana and India, and invited musical performances from other sites in SE Asia and Africa, etc., while some of these folks seemed surprised at the levels of anger and "it's taken this long?" replies they were receiving from students, and, in one case, museum visitors, at the efforts they really were, at long last, making.

One presenter's situation in that session (not an adjunct, but a very young TT) was particularly worrying, and there were others who chimed in with her.

She's on an open-carry (guns) campus, and the degree of pushback she received upon trying to teach a manuscript by 11th c. Beneventan medical authority Constantine Africanus ( https://constantinusafricanus.com/tag/medicine/ ) was scary, both to her, and to the rest of us on her behalf...

M.