Punished Or Cut Back on Hours For Working at Multiple Colleges?

[mahagonny]

I'm not sure where this opening post should go, since there is no 'non-tenure track' board like the old forum had. But I'll try it here.

Have any of you part time adjunct faculty experienced this? I had one assistant chair at college 'A' tell me, a couple years after I was hired:
"I'm trying to figure out what's happened with you. Your schedule just hasn't filled up the way I expected. I can't figure out why the students are not more eager to study with you. The only thing I can figure is they just don't know much about you, and...you work somewhere else so you just don't seem to be connected to this department in the same way as others are.' School 'A' pays more than School "B" and knows it.
Meanwhile, at college "B" the chair sends me an email asking me to meet with him. Then he intones, with a furrowed brow, 'so...how many hours a week do you currently work at this other school...?" Then I give him the answer and he replies "Oh. OK. Just wondering." That's the whole meeting, outside of a couple throwaway questions.
I think, even though you're only working for them part time, they resent that you might be appearing as an attraction for the other school. What else could it be? What kind of loyalty are they entitled to?
I asked my friends, should I let the one that pays less go and just be a promoter for the other one? They couldn't tell me. I didn't, because I figured as an adjunct, you're taken for granted anyway. They've invested nothing in you.

[polly_mer]

What are the enrollment trends at the colleges and in the departments in which you teach? 

I've watched situations where good planning indicates the department should offer N sections total, but the chair kept putting N+N/2 sections on the schedule and insisting that faculty just need to advertise their courses better.  The surprise every time about how many fabulous classes were only half full just made me sigh because it was entirely foreseeable that 25*N students didn't fill 25*N*1.5 seats.  No matter how good some of the faculty were and how fabulous their courses would be a declining enrollment overall and a sharply declining enrollment in the major meant we can't offer as many sections as the chair remember from the heyday from 30 years ago.

Unrealistic expectations from the chair doesn't mean you have to do anything different, but it may be time to look at additional options when people have very unrealistic expectations and start punishing workers who don't meet the unrealistic expectations.

Is the headache worth the money?

I've definitely become serious about looking for other jobs when the money was no longer worth the headache.  For example, I was treated well as an adjunct at a community college that had standards, but there's no way I would ever again agree to teach a new prep to seriously undermotivated and underprepared students for only $1800 if money was the reason for wanting to teach.

Can you replace the money doing something else?

One reason I wouldn't again teach a new prep for only $1800 is I could make more money for fewer hours as the person working the night shift at the gas station making minimum wage where I could read my book between customers.  I happen to know that some minimum wage jobs have a lot of down time in which I could read, which is more appealing than many aspects of teaching people who don't want to learn.

I also have available to me options that pay better than most adjunct positions and would be more enjoyable.  If adjuncting is one of your income streams, then can you change how you allocate your time/effort to make a different income stream replace the adjunct money?

[Caracal]

That's obnoxious. One of the things you lose if you employ adjuncts is the ability to control what else they're doing. As long as you're teaching the class in an acceptable way, they don't have any right to question where else you're teaching.

[mahagonny]

What are the enrollment trends at the colleges and in the departments in which you teach? 

I've watched situations where good planning indicates the department should offer N sections total, but the chair kept putting N+N/2 sections on the schedule and insisting that faculty just need to advertise their courses better.  The surprise every time about how many fabulous classes were only half full just made me sigh because it was entirely foreseeable that 25*N students didn't fill 25*N*1.5 seats.  No matter how good some of the faculty were and how fabulous their courses would be a declining enrollment overall and a sharply declining enrollment in the major meant we can't offer as many sections as the chair remember from the heyday from 30 years ago.

The colleges within driving distance (less than 1/2 a day) of each other are absolutely competing with each other for enrollment, and they use adjunct faculty who are trying to fill their classes and thus keep their weekly hours and income to promote themselves and their classes so they will fill up enough to run.

That's obnoxious. One of the things you lose if you employ adjuncts is the ability to control what else they're doing. As long as you're teaching the class in an acceptable way, they don't have any right to question where else you're teaching.

In fact, the faculty handbook requires us to treat all colleagues 'with collegiality.' By rights, it seems to me, being interrogated by the chair over your other teaching activities should count as uncollegial treatment, a basis for a union grievance. Of course, they will probably already have some idea if they take the time to google you on the internet or look at your CV on file. Not only that, but the backstage conversations, in which the chair can decide which faculty and courses to promote to the students, and which ones to not promote, are something you can only guess about, unless you have students doing private investigations for you, which I've never done, and only thought of just now.
I have heard unsolicited comments from students on occasion that are pertinent, however.

[Scout]

I would never, as a chair, comment on outside teaching by our adjuncts, anymore than I would comment on the work responsibilities of adjuncts who had full-time employment in addition to picking up a course for us. The only issue is if their other activities (whatever they are) was interfering with getting to class on time, and that's an operational question, not a "loyalty" question.

[mahagonny]

I would never, as a chair, comment on outside teaching by our adjuncts, anymore than I would comment on the work responsibilities of adjuncts who had full-time employment in addition to picking up a course for us. The only issue is if their other activities (whatever they are) was interfering with getting to class on time, and that's an operational question, not a "loyalty" question.

How about your adjunct employment contracts and accompanying documents for them to read? Nothing about these positions are intended for instructors who have full time employment outside of the college, concurrently with this contract? I've lost count of how many I've seen.

[Scout]

How about your adjunct employment contracts and accompanying documents for them to read? Nothing about these positions are intended for instructors who have full time employment outside of the college, concurrently with this contract? I've lost count of how many I've seen.

I'm not sure what you mean about our adjunct employment contracts and accompanying- can you clarify?

Majority of our adjuncts were full-time employees in professional jobs, who taught courses for us based on their expertise. For example, I had an adjunct teach a section of genetics who was a researcher at a local institute, or a medical doctor who would teach a section of medical ethics etc. The documents were the same for them as other adjuncts.

[Hibush]

I'm not sure where this opening post should go, since there is no 'non-tenure track' board like the old forum had.

NTT faculty are not marginalized on The Fora;-)

[mahagonny]

I would never, as a chair, comment on outside teaching by our adjuncts, anymore than I would comment on the work responsibilities of adjuncts who had full-time employment in addition to picking up a course for us. The only issue is if their other activities (whatever they are) was interfering with getting to class on time, and that's an operational question, not a "loyalty" question.

How about your adjunct employment contracts and accompanying documents for them to read? Nothing about these positions are intended for instructors who have full time employment outside of the college, concurrently with this contract? I've lost count of how many I've seen.

I'm not sure what you mean about our adjunct employment contracts and accompanying- can you clarify?

Majority of our adjuncts were full-time employees in professional jobs, who taught courses for us based on their expertise. For example, I had an adjunct teach a section of genetics who was a researcher at a local institute, or a medical doctor who would teach a section of medical ethics etc. The documents were the same for them as other adjuncts.

I guess that's a 'no' then.

[Scout]

I would never, as a chair, comment on outside teaching by our adjuncts, anymore than I would comment on the work responsibilities of adjuncts who had full-time employment in addition to picking up a course for us. The only issue is if their other activities (whatever they are) was interfering with getting to class on time, and that's an operational question, not a "loyalty" question.

How about your adjunct employment contracts and accompanying documents for them to read? Nothing about these positions are intended for instructors who have full time employment outside of the college, concurrently with this contract? I've lost count of how many I've seen.

I'm not sure what you mean about our adjunct employment contracts and accompanying- can you clarify?

Majority of our adjuncts were full-time employees in professional jobs, who taught courses for us based on their expertise. For example, I had an adjunct teach a section of genetics who was a researcher at a local institute, or a medical doctor who would teach a section of medical ethics etc. The documents were the same for them as other adjuncts.

I guess that's a 'no' then.

I don't even know what question you're asking (as my post said), so no, "no" isn't the answer.

But if you're not willing to clarify, ok, then.

[mahagonny]

I would never, as a chair, comment on outside teaching by our adjuncts, anymore than I would comment on the work responsibilities of adjuncts who had full-time employment in addition to picking up a course for us. The only issue is if their other activities (whatever they are) was interfering with getting to class on time, and that's an operational question, not a "loyalty" question.

How about your adjunct employment contracts and accompanying documents for them to read? Nothing about these positions are intended for instructors who have full time employment outside of the college, concurrently with this contract? I've lost count of how many I've seen.

I'm not sure what you mean about our adjunct employment contracts and accompanying- can you clarify?

Majority of our adjuncts were full-time employees in professional jobs, who taught courses for us based on their expertise. For example, I had an adjunct teach a section of genetics who was a researcher at a local institute, or a medical doctor who would teach a section of medical ethics etc. The documents were the same for them as other adjuncts.

I guess that's a 'no' then.

I don't even know what question you're asking (as my post said), so no, "no" isn't the answer.

But if you're not willing to clarify, ok, then.

Sure, here's clarification: some adjunct contracts say, either in the contract or in some type of attached addendum, language of this sort; 'these jobs are intended for persons who have full time employment in addition to this employment.' So if that were true in  your school, then you would have been in fact been commenting on outside employment, or party to the implementation of that type of meddling. But I gather such is not the case. And I agree with you that interrogating people about other teaching activities is not appropriate. And I think Caracal got it right too.

That's obnoxious. One of the things you lose if you employ adjuncts is the ability to control what else they're doing. As long as you're teaching the class in an acceptable way, they don't have any right to question where else you're teaching.

[Scout]

I see. I've never seen such language in an adjunct contract. We don't distinguish is any operational way between adjuncts that are full time employed elsewhere and those who are not.

[mahagonny]

I see. I've never seen such language in an adjunct contract. We don't distinguish is any operational way between adjuncts that are full time employed elsewhere and those who are not.

However, in my long experience, these kinds of statements are not taken seriously, and shouldn't be. No one's going to hope you have a full time job outside of the college teaching. That would just mean that they'd have to be flexible in order to get their course offering(s) to fit in with your existing schedule. Lots of extra work for them. Also included sometimes is or has been language suggesting you are not an employee of the state, but a private contractor, which is even more absurd. Everyone knows it's W-2 wages, not 1099 miscellaneous income. And a recent ruling in our new and President Trump - improved National Labor Relations Board establishes that employers have the right to mislead workers about their employment status and rights. that is, if you believe what they say is on the level, and not likely to be a bunch of malarkey calculated to discourage you from exercising your labor rights (I don't recall that I ever did.)

[polly_mer]

Mahagonny, have you ever done the scheduling or the hiring?  These things aren't nearly as difficult as you're making them out to be.

No one's going to hope you have a full time job outside of the college teaching.

For professional fellows, we look specifically for people who have a full-time job in their field so they can provide better examples to our students.  The ongoing relationship for the required classes often depends on continuing to be employed in a full-time job in their fields.  I have seen contracts to that effect for nurses and other fields where licensing is important.

In the case of warm bodies covering random gen ed courses, no one cares what else you're doing with your life.

That would just mean that they'd have to be flexible in order to get their course offering(s) to fit in with your existing schedule. Lots of extra work for them.

For a professional fellow teaching an assigned required course as a recurring part of the curriculum, the extra work involved is minimal and well worth the effort to ensure we're getting that highly qualified person.

For the warm body covering an extra gen ed section at the last minute, usually the scheduling is for when the students can take the course and then we find an instructor willing to take that time.  Interchangeable cogs have to fit into the schedule that has already been decided.

[Ruralguy]

Yes, a last minute fill in to teach one of our labs has our blessing to drive an Uber or run for congress. We don't care.

However, if the person is contracted full time, we care, and we have statements as to the limits of hours of outside work. Of course, these limits are often violated, and we only start to care if someone starts missing their classes, or is never available for students or committee service (if tenure track).