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Part-Time Whining

There’s an interesting piece in the most recent edition of NUVO Newsweekly regarding the pay and working conditions of adjunct faculty here in Indianapolis.   For those of you who don’t know exactly what that means, an adjunct faculty member is someone who teaches part-time at the college level.  They usually have a Master’s Degree or better in their field.  Some people use the adjunct position as a way to land a full-time teaching gig at a school, some do it to stay busy, others do it because it’s a nice way to make a few bucks on the side.

As many of you know I teach part-time at the University of Indianapolis in its MBA program and also at Ivy Tech where I’ve taught communications,  political science and English.   The NUVO article focused on the pay and benefits of some adjuncts and horrible they are treated in some instances.  One of the big sticking points was the lack of benefits.  No offense, but it’s a part-time job.  Albeit an important one, but still a part-time job.

I know of very few part-time jobs that offer insurance, sick leave, guaranteed raises etc., etc.  There is no reason why part-time teaching should be any exception.  The last part-time job I knew that offered anything close to full-time benefits was Starbucks.   Maybe people who don’t like their teaching jobs can go work there.

When you took the job,  you knew what you were getting into.   It seems to me a little late to start complaining.  Maybe that’s where the real lesson is.

Posted: 06|1|10 at 6:06 am by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • Taxpayer 834512

    I love NUVO for arts and culinary reviews. Sometimes I enjoy an environmental piece (like the coal industry). That kind of thing is usually very one-sided, but will have some data I don't find in other media.

    For anything approaching economic reality, I'm better off talking to our dog. Especially, from Hammer, Hoppe, & the cartoons.

  • Gary

    I teach as an adjunct at the law school and have been paid the same token salary for 18 years. I'm fine with it as I don't do it for the money. Most adjuncts that I know don't care one whit about the $. On the other hand, I hear that adjuncts at some of the Ivy league schools get $25k a semester.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Myers/1581460612 David Myers

    Well taxpayer if you like NUVO, that tells us a lot about you. No offence intended. Speaking of education jobs, what is going to happen to those jobs if the economy picks back up. You will see a lot of them disappear. Then you can read about how many student loans are in default. Just a thought.

  • Think Again

    So, David, IF Taxpayer's reading of NUVO “says a lot about” him in your judgmental opinion, is it fair for us to assume, given your post, that your improper spelling of “offense” “says a lot about” you? I choose to believe it's a typo. If not, well…you've got a lot of nerve tossing around criticism of anyone's reading material.

    NUVO is a brilliantly-written alternative newspaper, perfect in small doses (weekly) as a piece of the overall media digestive cycle. Some of the sharpest writing around, whether I agree with it or not. I suggest you step back from your bad-old-self and look at Taxpayer's reading choice, and mine, in that perspective.

    As for adjunct, Abdul, I've done it, too. Never for the pay. I've team-taught honors juniors/seniors a few times. I haven't for a couple of years because, frankly, the prep time is enormous and I'm kinda busy. The students are bright, challenging and they kept me hoppin.' I think the overall concern, especially among college admins, is the number of adjuncts on staff, can sometimes have a detrimental effect on quality of instruction (if it's too high in relation to “regular” tenured professors). Most of the rating groups, like NCACSS, factor adjunct ratios into their overall grade for instructional quality. Unfair? Maybe.

    So NUVO whines about adjunct status. Ho-hum. Not all their articles can be jewels. I've sold household items via their classifieds and never cease to meet very interesting people.

  • Fond of benefits

    If someone didn´t complain about working conditions, 10 year olds would still be working in our factories…………………

  • Patton

    imho, there is a huge difference between complaining for “inconveniences” and righting the abuse of “child labor”

  • pascal

    Nuvo has a thumbs up for the Park department fixing 160,000 summer for free meals while another blog complains that the pools are not opening on time or for long enough.

  • Rico

    Uh…you lost me at 'brilliantly-written'. Steve Hammer anyone? Anyone? Give me a breaK!

    Nuvo is what it is–an arts and entertainment rag. In that capacity, they do a pretty good job.

  • guest

    I know it's a grabby headline, but I don't think people are necessarily WHINING when they ask for a little consideration. Case in point the 26 year veteran adjunct who won the award. What evidence do you have of him whining? I know you consider yourself a journalist, but if you can't back up your assertion he's WHINING, you are just a blogger. An IU prof told me so.

  • indiana_barrister

    hey Guest,

    You're right for a change, I'm not a pure journalist, I'm a commentator who knows whining when he sees it. Obviously you don't teach otherwise you would know being an adjunct is a part-time job and you deal with it or go work somewhere else. Glad to enlighten you as usual.

  • John Howard

    For what it's worth 'offence' is a perfectly valid way to spell the term. It's not as common in the USA as in other english-speaking countries, however.

  • Think Again

    Consult: Webster, AP Stylebook, Elements of Style…you're just wrong. In America, that is.

  • Think Again

    Yeah, Hammer. It is brilliantly written. Much of it, anyway. I don't agree with all of it, but by no objective definition is it a rag.

  • Mike

    No no Abdul, let them whine. Let them talk about the terrible conditions. I want to teach at the career colleges once I have my CPA and could stand to have the competition thinned out.

  • guest

    “For a change…as usual.” Your comment doesn't make sense to me. I think you have me mixed up with someone else with whom you have had more in depth communications.

  • pascal

    Well, NUVO had a short article on 20% of Indianapolis can't read at a 3rd grade level. These were adults. I'm pretty sure that 20% of IPS third graders cannot read at 3rd grade level as well-so adult ed must work? Meanwhile, government schools go to the movies @ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487… wherein unions are exposed for the crooks and thieves that they are.