ADJUNCTS NEED TO SIT AT THE TABLE

Sheryl Sandberg, best-selling author of the book “Lean In” tells women that they need to “sit at the table”.  She encourages them that in order to be leaders in today’s business world and in society in general, they shouldn’t sit on the sidelines.  They should not underestimate their abilities simply because they are women.  They need to negotiate for themselves and not take the first offer made to them.  No one, Sandberg says, gets the promotion by sitting on the sideline.

In Sandberg’s TED TALK, she quotes the numbers of CEOs in the world and compares them to the number of women in those positions.  Women are simply outnumbered in the business leadership world.

     “SIT AT THE TABLE”

Photo courtesy of businessinsider.com

All of that strikes a chord with me, not only because, as a woman, I agree with her, but also because it makes me think of the adjunct situation in higher education.  Unlike, the numbers of women CEOs who are in the minority, adjuncts far outnumber the full time faculty in our colleges and universities in the U.S. 

The Maryland Higher Education Commission, in their 2014 Data Book cite the following figures.  In our state community colleges, approximately 29% of the faculty are full-time, while about 71% are part-time (i.e. adjuncts).  Likewise, in the four year colleges in Maryland, 40% of the faculty are full-time and 60% are part-time.

Adjuncts are not alone.  We are many.  We are not outnumbered.  But are we at the table? Until recently, the answer would be a definite NO.  We have been on the sidelines and have been there for seemingly eons.  Now, in some cases, we are on our way to the table.  Some of the adjuncts even have a seat.  But still this is not the general rule.  We NEED TO BE AT THE TABLE on a regular basis, not merely in certain cases; not merely as an afterthought.

Adjunct faculty members are making progress.  To continue on the road to the table, we have to talk with one another support one another.  As Sandberg tells women in “Lean In”, we must not underestimate our abilities and we must be actively engaged in negotiations with our colleges and universities so that we are part of the solution to the problems that we all have encountered along our journey.    

Adjunct faculty, like those at the Maryland Institute of Art (MICA), must understand the importance of standing together to discuss our needs with the college leadership.  We can do that only if we are AT THE TABLE.  In some cases, being at the table may involve a few easy steps where the faculty and the leadership can speak about each side of the issues without fear of reprisals.  In others, it may mean becoming members of a union.

The key, however, is that positive results can come from different ways of communicating.  It’s listening with open ears and hearts.  In the case of MICA, it was necessary to become members of a union.  In the case of the University of Maryland University College, it has been a new policy of “Meet and Confer”.  In the end, it is not a matter of the structure of the conversation between adjunct faculty and leadership, it is that it happens at all.  Adjuncts must be AT THE TABLE.

Today's Adjunct News in Colorado

April 15, 2014 by Nick DeSantis - From the Chronicle of Higher Education

Colo. Bill to Improve Adjuncts’ Working Conditions Is Defeated

A bill in Colorado that sought to improve the pay and job security of adjunct instructors at the state’s community colleges has been shelved indefinitely after the measure was defeated by the Colorado House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee. The committee voted last week, 9 to 4, against the measure, known as the Community College Pay and Benefits Act of 2014. The committee then voted to postpone the bill indefinitely.

Members of the committee raised concerns about the measure’s costs and said that the matter would be best handled by the community-college system itself, rather than through the legislature.

• Source: Gjsentinel

In an attempt to rescue the bill because of a $55 million fiscal cost (an earlier version of the bill carried an $86 million fiscal note), Fischer tried to amend it to force the college system to dip into its reserves to increase pay and offer benefits for all adjunct instructors.

That effort failed.

While Fischer earned sympathy from Democratic and Republican members of the committee, most agreed that it was too expensive a proposition, and that it was the wrong way to address the issue.

Today's Blog is an update on the news posted in the Chronicle; yet another blow to adjunct life.   I hope you will comment and add other stories from your own area, college, or state.

..Just A Little Respect...

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T" ...Aretha Franklin was singing about adjunct faculty members.  

Perhaps she just didn't know it at the time, but Aretha was singing about the lives we live in the contingent faculty world.  Spelling out our needs and reviewing our plight, her song leads us to what adjunct faculty have been saying about how a little respect can go a long way to make us feel better.   Let me tell you a little about her alphabetical reprise on adjunct faculty.

R - Adjuncts want RESPECT shown to them from their full-time faculty counter-parts.   We want some indication that the college or university respects us for how we assist them in providing for their students.  That includes, being able to keep the doors open and making courses available for the students so they can fulfill their dreams and complete their education.

E - Experience.  Adjunct faculty want to feel Respect for the wealth of real world EXPERIENCE we bring to the classroom.  We are subject matter experts in ways that are unique to part-time instructors.  As stated in so many arenas, students should leave college with a readiness to either enter the job market or go on to further their education.  Adjuncts know quite well, what graduates need to be successful in the job market, today.

S - Support.  Aretha was singing about the SUPPORT that all faculty need to do their jobs well.  However, in the adjunct world, it's also the simple things that need to be considered.  As many have noted, adjuncts are often required to hold office hours (see Stacey Patton's article in the March 28th Chronicle of Higher Education- "The Adjunct is In.  But is She Getting Paid?" However, as noted, many do not have office space.  It's not that adjuncts don't want to hold office hours, they just have no place to meet.

Perhaps, Franklin should have used several "S"s in her song, because it also stands for the adjuncts' need for some sense of SECURITY by allowing them to have contracts for more than one semester at a time.  And a part in SHARED-GOVERNANCE wouldn't be bad either.  SENSITIVITY to what adjunct faculty have experienced for all of their hard work at low wages would be a nice touch, too.  Adjuncts are not "just the help" (author's quote).

P - Some of us would enjoy the POSSIBILITY of PERMANENT employment as full time faculty members.  Perhaps, a PENSION fund or ability to have a retirement fund would show some respect for what contingent faculty bring to the classroom.  The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) indicated in their 2010 National Survey of Part-Time/Adjunct Faculty that half of all adjuncts would like to become full-time faculty members. 

E - Ah yes; you knew we would get to EARNINGS.  Adjuncts need to be paid for their work at levels commensurate with the work they do in the classroom; what they do to they prepare for classes; the help they provide to students on an individual basis (even if it's not in an office they can call theirs); and for the meetings they need to attend.  As an ethical issue, adjuncts need to be paid a living wage.

C - Respect is also shown to part-time faculty through such simple things as offering CONTRACTS that are longer than one semester at a time.  Colleges plan several semesters ahead at any given time.  While the number of students per semester may vary, we can usually define the number of sections of any one course that will be needed.  As courses go, so go the adjuncts.

T- Ms. Franklin's song would be remiss if it didn't mention TEACHING.  The research shows that often adjunct faculty members are rated more highly than their full-time colleagues.  That should not be surprising since TEACHING is their primary interest and primary role.  They love it or they wouldn't be doing it with all of the work they do every semester, while being paid so little and not receiving benefits.  They are good at TEACHING.  They know the practical side of the course content to add to the theoretical views expressed in their texts and by full-time faculty.  

So, R-E-S-P-E-C-T our adjunct faculty members.  And yes, we know it's a two way street.  We all need to show respect to each other in academe.