This week I posted an interview with the author of Excellent Sheep, William Deresiewicz. He made a comment that some of the best instructors are adjunct, or un-tenured professors, because they are grounded in the real world and they have some practical things to share with students.
That may be true. But if we had more time I would have asked him what he thinks about the low pay of many of these instructors. I happen to know several who are barely scraping by. Salon has an article up about how some professors are earning far less than minimum wage. More on that below the orange thingie.
From Salon:
“The most shocking thing is that many of us don’t even earn the federal minimum wage,” said Miranda Merklein, an adjunct professor from Santa Fe who started teaching in 2008. “Our students didn’t know that professors with PhDs aren’t even earning as much as an entry-level fast food worker. We’re not calling for the $15 minimum wage. We don’t even make minimum wage. And we have no benefits and no job security.”
Over three quarters of college professors are adjunct. Legally, adjunct positions are part-time, at-will employment. Universities pay adjunct professors by the course, anywhere between $1,000 to $5,000. So if a professor teaches three courses in both the fall and spring semesters at a rate of $3000 per course, they’ll make $18,000 dollars. The average full-time barista makes the same yearly wage. However, a full-time adjunct works more than 40 hours a week. They’re not paid for most of those hours.
“If it’s a three credit course, you’re paid for your time in the classroom only,” said Merklein. “So everything else you do is by donation. If you hold office hours, those you’re doing for free. Your grading you do for free. … Anything we do with the student where we sit down and explain what happened when the student was absent, that’s also free labor. Some would call it wage theft because these are things we have to do in order to keep our jobs. We have to do things we’re not getting paid for. It’s not optional.”
And Merklein is far from the only one. And don't get me started on the online universities. That's going to be another episode of Labor Pains Podcast.
So, if students/parents are being charged exorbitant tuition and fees, where is all this money going? Here, to building new rec centers and student unions:
In recent years, universities have come to the realization that their academic prestige alone is not enough to attract the world’s top students, athletes, and overall academic participants. In an era when students are more mobile and discerning than ever, university officials have gone on a major building boom that has seen designer dorms, stunning libraries, and amazing recreation centers characterize campuses across the country.
Can't you just hear the breathless prose, as if all this building is a good thing? Well, it is, for someone. But it's not the professors. And really, it isn't for the students either.