THIS BLOGGER'S YEAR (so far)

"May you live in interesting times".  Purportedly, that's an old Chinese curse.  As you might expect, that phrase does not connote good wishes.  It's been an interesting 8 months for me this year.....not all good, not all bad...but at least "interesting".

After serving in various roles in higher education for 35 years, I have retired from full time employment and have returned to my life as an adjunct....just as I had started out 35 years ago. So my perspective on adjunct life (and expectations) has changed somewhat.  Yes, it's been "interesting".

During my career in higher ed, I have continually taught as an adjunct faculty member even though during that time, I worked primarily in the administrative function.  Now, I come full circle back to my initiation into college life - adjunct faculty member.

As it so happens, I come back to my adjunct life at a time when enrollments are on the decline, and online programs are popping up everywhere.  Thus, I find myself checking the university schedule at every opportunity to see if I secured a course for fall or whether I was fortunate enough to get two sections.  Ah, the good ole' days of adjunct teaching!  I remember it well.

Meanwhile, I am finishing up my summer section and trying to be as active as possible in the academic environment.  That includes starting to write a book about leadership in higher education.  I know what you're thinking.  Don't go there.  So, as I rejoin your ranks, know that I am paddling the same boat as you and I am looking at the state of adjunct faculty through the same pair of glasses.

  

Lately in this blog, I have listed a number of articles related to the unionization of contingent faculty members.  I hope you have been keeping up with that subject as it doesn't appear that it will go away anytime soon.  Be sure to educate yourselves about the pros and cons of unionization, but also be aware that higher education is changing and unions may not be the only change that's in sight.  Watch for my next blog on this one.

I am glad to be back with you as an adjunct faculty member, proud of what we all do for our colleges and universities and wondering what's around the next corner.  So for me, it's back in the saddle, again.

Ever the adjunct,

M. Linda Martinak, Ed.D.

American Federation of Teachers Support Adjunct Faculty

Sharing with you, this post from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

July 14, 2014 by Charles Huckabee

AFT Reaffirms Commitment to Fighting Exploitation of Adjuncts

During its convention over the weekend in Los Angeles, the American Federation of Teachers reaffirmed its commitment to fighting to end academe’s reliance on contingent instructors and to replace that model “with a system of academic staffing that is sustainable for students, faculty, and the economy.”

A resolution unanimously approved by AFT delegates states the organization is committed to “improving the lives of contingent faculty by ending the rank exploitation of the majority of the higher-education instructional work force.” That exploitation, it says, is undermining the educational and civic missions of colleges and universities, and is negatively affecting the quality of the college experience for students.

Among other points, the resolution says that the organization will work to organize local unions that can bargain for better terms of employment for contingent faculty members, and will take collective action with affiliates, members, students, and communities to educate people “about the impact of contingency on the lives of teachers and their students and on the quality of education.”

Adjunct Faculty continue to find support for their cause.  We hope it continues.

Ever the adjunct,

Linda

SHARING INFORMATION AT THE REQUEST OF ADJUNCT COLLEAGUES

At the request of some of my adjunct colleagues, I am passing along an interesting article from Inside Higher Education related to benefits for adjuncts.

Please check out this link for the story and also comments that have been posted related to it.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/14/aft-and-freelancers-union-announce-new-effort-help-adjuncts-insurance

I hope all of you are ready for fall courses and that you are enjoying either the remainder of what you are teaching this summer, or are getting rest and relaxation in preparation for fall.

Time does fly!

Ever the adjunct,

Linda

The Spirit of 1776

Yes, today we celebrate the independence of the USA from British rule.  We are now free due to the work of our Continental Congress in a hot, sweltering, Philadelphia summer.  If any of you are history buffs, or have seen the DVD - John Adams, or the Movie 1776, you will know that the decision to vote on independence was not easy for our forefathers.  However, given the increase in taxes on the colonies and the lack of attention to the plight of the colonists, by the British, the Second Continental Congress finally agreed to at least talk about Independence.

If we are to believe the Show, 1776, one delegate from Rhode Island was quoted as saying "..in all my years I never heard, seen, nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about...I'm for debatin' anything".

All of that brings me to my point, today....I wonder how all of you at your colleges and universities are talking about the idea of unions, not only for adjunct faculty, but for the rest of your institutions as well.  I hope you will join in the conversation to let us all know if there is open discussion among groups, among individuals, among administration, etc.  Is this an issue on our campus that might be equivalent to "the sky is falling", or is it one where there is clear, open dialogue?

Please comment.  Your comments come to me and I will post them under any name or pseudonym you like.  The idea is that this should be a transparent discussion and not "so dangerous it couldn't be talked about".

Happy Fourth of July! ---- Independence Day!

The Busy Blogger....

As I am in the midst of packing up my "full time" administrator office and life to move off to retirement from the 8 to 4 (9 to 5, or whatever), I find my writing time has been diminished a bit.  In the meantime, I am reading some really interesting posts from the Adjunct Project from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

So, once again, I will direct your attention to one that appeared this morning.  I hope you will read it and be ready for my return to more of my own writing soon.  My academic life will continue as I maintain my adjunct status at another university so I look forward to re-joining all of you in that status, sans admin viewpoints.  We are a marvelous and tenacious group, are we not!

The link to the article is: http://adjunct.chronicle.com/on-working-for-free/    Enjoy.

I will be back with you on my own writing, soon.

Recommendation for Another Blog

I am in the middle of writing my next blog, but in the meantime, please consider reading this one from the Chronicle of Higher Education's Adjunct Project.

http://adjunct.chronicle.com/realizations-about-my-life-as-an-adjunct/

Enjoy and keep the faith.
Linda

Still Invisible Or NOT?

Just when I begin to feel a little bit better about the current state of adjunct faculty having a voice in governance, or any other college process, I hear something from a full time faculty member that just deflates my expectations.  I guess I can assume that it's my "adjunct expectations" (or over-expectations).  Let me put this in perspective.  

At a school where I no longer teach, they (the adjunct faculty) are trying to move forward in having a voice in the shared governance and presenting adjunct issues to the administration.  The adjuncts do have a seat on the faculty senate. In fact, the senate had just met the day before my conversation with a full-time professor who is not a new to the university community.  In fact, she had just gotten tenure there.  I mentioned to her that the adjunct faculty now had a seat on the senate and she told me she didn't know about that.  I asked her if she knew about the process the adjuncts had in place to meet with the Provost over their concerns and she had never heard of that either.  

Please note that the university is not a large one and adjuncts teach a significant number of courses in the liberal arts and other areas.  They teach in the business school as well, although AACSB (business accreditation) limits the number of adjunct faculty members who can teach their courses.  

I then ran into another full-time, tenured faculty member at the same school and she had not heard anything about the adjunct organization there or about their seat on the senate.  Yes, I'll admit that this is an extremely small sample of full-timers, but it is an indication that further study or communication might be necessary.


Meanwhile, even if full time faculty are not hearing about the adjunct plight at their own institutions, the press is overwhelmingly moving forward with articles every week about how adjuncts are organizing across the country.  Not only are unions cropping up on community college campuses, they are now at four year institutions as well.  The Service Employees International Union, the leading group seeking adjunct membership, has also been joined by the American Federation of Teachers and even the AAUP, traditionally a full-time faculty organization, in recruiting adjunct faculty across the United States.

For specifics on this country-wide movement of unionization, I refer you to the Chronicle of Higher Education's multi-page article by Peter Schmidt in the April 18th edition.   He points out that the new push from unions is using a strategy "that holds that sufficient union saturation of a given local labor market not only produces big gains at unionized colleges, but puts non unionized ones under pressure to treat adjuncts better, too".  To put it plainly, "it's not over until it's over". Stay tuned, I am sure there is more to come.