On Adjunct Labor

My Old Journals, Our New Gems

From Forum: Newsletter of the Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Special Interest Group In: College Composition and Communication, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Sep., 1998), pp. A1-A16

When teachers are exploited, WHO PAYS?

YOU DO, if you're a student, because your teacher is overworked, underpaid, and without job security. Do you want your papers graded by a teacher who is exhausted and worried about paying the bills? A stand for academic labor rights is a stand for better teaching.

YOU DO, if you're a tenured professor, because the growing use of part-time and adjunct faculty as a main source of academic labor is a threat to tenure and academic freedom in higher education. A stand for academic labor rights is a stand for academic freedom.

YOU DO, if you're the parent of a student, because the money you pay to send your children to college is being used ac- cording to corporate models that maximize profits over educational excel- lence. A stand for academic labor rights is a stand for your children's education.

YOU DO, if you're a taxpayer, because the institutions which are partly funded by your tax dollars are serving the interests of corporate research (a tax break for big companies), rather than educational excellence-while the students who will lead the country in the near future may not be getting the attention they need. A stand for academic labor rights is a stand for the future of the United States.

YOU DO, if you're a graduate student employee, because the job market today makes the possibility of a full-time academic job more unlikely even as often-exploited teaching assistants and research assis- tants increasingly staff undergraduate programs. A stand for academic labor is a stand for your future career.

YOU DO, if you're an adjunct or part-time instructor, because institutions which take advantage of your devotion to students and the teaching profession, expecting you to work a lot for very little in return-with the false impression that it might lead to a full-time position-are exploiting you AND your students. A stand for academic labor is a stand for your profession.