If I had written this post last week, it would have been titled "Entering the 'Twilight Zone' in Full Force," but I didn't, so it will feel kind of weird to write it today (I'll explain soon enough).
Oh, but first, a few definitions or clarifications for you, my faithful readers!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
What do I mean by "Twilight Zone?"
I am shamelessly borrowing the term from Anastasia, one of my favorite academic bloggers (I still can't believe she wrote that last week & made my day!). She wrote this post last week, in which she elaborates on what happened here (I'll summarize for you, she had a surreal conversation with two administrators who marveled at how amazing it was that they could hire so many adjuncts). I did let her know I'd be doing this and I'm sure she doesn't mind.
So... "twilight zone" refers to adjuncting (a recent "verb" that spell check doesn't recognize).
Further details for those who are not academics out there (maybe one or two of my five readers). Adjuncts are part-time faculty, hired to teach one or more classes and paid a flat per-class rate PER SEMESTER (generally speaking 3K for those with PhD, 2.5K with MA/MS) . With no benefits and very few rights. And all the work and all the obligations of teaching. That is, same work, but NOT the same pay.
It was through a former blog called Invisible Adjunct that I first encountered blogging and later became a blogger myself back in 2004. Nearly six years later, after reading thousands upon thousands of words (particularly written by my friend Articulate Dad in his former blog) maligning all the "adjuncting" signifies,** I am about to become one. Nobody can tell me I'm not going into this with my eyes open, well aware of the implications. Willingly, even. Sigh. Dare I say, almost "thankfully"? (because I happen to have an "almost job" at the same university where my husband is teaching).
** And I won't get into that discussion in detail now, maybe later, if I have the time and energy to write other posts, if you want to get a feel for the issues involve, read this recent post & comments and this one (4 days ago) by Dean Dad -- some people hate what he says & I don't fully agree either)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
OK, so, having gotten the definitions and the background information, and some of the angst (no! not that!) out of the way, here are the facts:
I would have written that I was entering "full force" into adjuncting last week because that's when I found out (less than two weeks before the first day of class -- that's TYPICAL of what happens with adjuncts, we get TONS of advance time to prepare for a class we've never even taught before, look at that, how professional!) that I would in fact be teaching not one, but TWO different classes. My pocket is happy, but I'm kind of freaking out because it's a 100 level class and I hope to be able to do this (I will, it's OK, but still...). In my department's defense, I knew since before May, I think, I'd be teaching the other class and it was because of a sudden event (surgery in the family of another adjunct) that I was given this other class to teach. These things happen all the time, that's why they need us part-timers, right?
Well... not exactly!
Let's get back to today. What happened today is what initially made me feel that it would be strange to write this post -- hence the question in the title -- and at the same, what made it feel so right (hence the answer). Today I participated in the new faculty orientation at the university where K and I are teaching. And I thought it was so nice that they invited us, part time faculty, to fully participate! And I thought throughout the morning how ironic it would be to write this post today, of all days. I was happy and "up in the air" like a pretty balloon.
And then mid-afternoon rolled around and while they were holding the meeting to present all the benefits that full-time faculty have, they had this half-assed round-table for part-time faculty to which only 7 of us went (I'm sure there were many many more in the morning meeting).
After the round-table ended, four of us (all women, the other 3 were men) went outside to chat and to escape the coldness of the air-conditioning. That's when I learned that I was in "heaven" with my two sections of 10-12 students. My new friend, I found out, would be teaching 3 sections of a 300 level Spanish class to nearly 100 students.
Then, I turned to the other two women and I found out that were teaching 120 and 150 students each. The latter has four sections of an Art History class (she has an MA, so she won't be making that much, if her department pays the same as mine). The former teaches 3 sections of a Philosophy class and she explained to me that she's "one half of a two body problem" (i.e. one half of an academic couple -- worse yet, a couple in the same discipline) who had a tenure track job in Kentucky, but decided to move here where her husband as a tt job because she liked it better here.
These things happen all the time in academia. And unfortunately lots of us academics are married to other academics, so it's actually the norm -- one "half" having to choose between spouse or tt job.
So, yeah... my cheery and floaty "balloon" of the first half of the day was quite deflated as the day came to an end. Much more so when we got into the car and drove to pick up the boys to go to the faculty and staff picnic and K told me that the benefits were "really good." Oh well... lucky thing for me and those two other ladies to have tenure-track spouses and have the benefits too. I don't think that the woman teaching four classes (plus one at another college) has that, though. That's how she lives.
You know that I don't really aspire to have a tenure track job, but I still think that some things are fundamentally flawed. By the number of adjuncts teaching Spanish it looks like they sh/could have at least two or three full time professors to do it. Maybe it's the same case with Art History? Or maybe, as Dean Dad would say, it just so happens that these subjects are "in" now, but might be "out" in a few years. It's hard to be convinced of that.
There's so much I could say about this, but I'll stop now. After all, I should be preparing to teach my classes, and not be blogging, right? Oh well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Bleh, adjuncting. At least you got an orientation, more than I got most of the time. I suspect you are right that Spanish and Art History could afford, from a number of courses/students point of view a few full-time faculty. And that's what irks me about adjuncting. At many places it's either t-t or adjuncts. Why couldn't they fill those full time slots with full time instructors with no research responsibilities? Yes, it's more expensive than adjuncts but it's slightly cheaper than t-t and it seems like it'd be better for the students. And if a class doesn't fill, leaving an instructor with a lighter load, perhaps they could require a service assignment. It frustrates me that higher ed doesn't seem to think outside the box at all when it comes to employment.
I'm not really convinced of anything dean dad says.
I, too, an frustrated that everyone seems so willing to throw up their hands and declare the situation hopeless. This is why I agree with those who say that until we find our current arrangement ethically unconscionable, it won't change.
I have a post due to go up Thursday about women and the academy--it's been on my mind lately. My sister is in a similar position--she's been an unwilling "trailing spouse" for years now, and I think has finally had enough (not of the marriage, but academia. She's going back to school for a career change!).
It all comes down to the important question: Is this what you want, right now? Because if it is, then you're golden. And if it's not, then you need to prepare an exit strategy, and a plan for getting where you want. All the faults of the system aside, it's our game to play. Play by your own rules.
Post a Comment