The Adjunct Blog
Buy Your Very Own Ohio Adjunct!
Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published on Order of Education. You, too, can own your very own adjunct. All you have to do is move to Ohio and become a university administrator. Yes, folks, that’s all it takes and then you’ll be able to trade people like property. Ohio adjuncts live to serve you. They will do anything you tell them. And they cost next to nothing. Step right up. Come one, come all. Buy your very own Ohio adjunct and join the leisure class where we make at least ten times the salary of our workers and
A Meeting of the (Virtual) Minds
By J. Shatzky The four hundred and twenty-sixth daily meeting of the Neo-English and Artificial Trans-Communication department is now called to order. As Electronic Chair of the NEAT department I want to thank you all for downloading this meeting and remind you to turn off your bio-feeds and trans-generators and switch to non-virtuality. The minutes from yesterday’s meeting have been transmitted to your programs; any corrections, additions, subtractions or aberrations should be duly noted now. Professor Thoreaubot, what changes have you to record? “I . . .request. . .a. . .correction . . of . . .a
Adjunct Noir: W&J Confidential
by Stephen W. Mason Adjunct in English, Washington & Jefferson College The following was delivered as a paper, 4/5/13, at Countering Contingency: Teaching, Scholarship, and Creativity in the Age of the Adjunct, sponsored by the Adjunct Faculty Association of the United Steelworkers. For more comprehensive coverage of the conference, please see the 4/8/13 article at Inside Higher Ed, Fighting the Fear, and its reader response, particularly that of Jack Longmate, adjunct in English at Olympic College, Bremerton, WA. __________________________ Around three years ago–eight years into my working life as an adjunct at Washington & Jefferson College (W&J), a small, liberal-arts college located some miles south
Plagiarism in High Places
*Editor’s Note: The following post is a continuation of the author’s previous article regarding Shared Responsibility for Employers Regarding Health Coverage and the Affordable Care Act. Nice piece of investigative journalism. by Ken Ryesky Consider the following scenario: You are an Adjunct faculty member. You teach a large class. You have tasked your class with an essay assignment where the student is to write about one or more specified topics. One-third of the essays specifically addressed “Topic A.” Of those essays that dealt with “Topic A,” one-fifth were 95+% verbatim to one another, and additionally, several other essays contained
Marketplace Radio Show Wants to Interview Adjuncts
by Josh Boldt Any of you listen to the show Marketplace on public radio? It’s one of the most popular programs produced by American Public Media. A reporter from Marketplace, Adriene Hill, has just contacted me about a story she’s doing on “precarious” work. Adjuncts will be an important part of this piece and Hill is looking for a couple of you who wouldn’t mind being interviewed. This is another great opportunity for us to get our message into the mainstream. I hope a few of you will take Adriene up on this interview request. If you’re up for it,
Memo: From the Desk of the Director of Adjunct Development
by Andy D. Adjunct Announcements!! Welcome back from Spring Break!! As we head into the second half of the semester, please keep the following in mind: Silvia St. Le’Egoiste’s mixed-medium sculpture, ‘Lips on a Stick’ will be on display in the campus art studio between now and the end of the month. Second-half sixteen week course Roster Verification notices are due in three weeks. Second-half eight week course Roster Verification notices are due a week prior. First half minimester course Roster Verification rosters are due a week Monday. Second half minimester course Roster Verifications are due three days
The Adjunct Shuffle
by Clint Benjamin In the late 70s, the punk band The Clash snarled “Are you taking over? Or are you taking orders? Are you moving backwards? Or Are you moving forwards?” I’m almost certain Strummer and company did not have the exploitation of adjuncts in mind when they wrote those lyrics, but they certainly seem apt and amazingly topical, over 30 years later! My name is Clint Benjamin and I’m an adjunct (if that sounds confessional, it sorta is. I often do not like to freely admit I am an adjunct.). I teach about, on average, five to seven courses
To Build a Fire
by Cindy H. I teach at both a community college and a private four-year liberal arts college. The former is pretty good at cancelling classes when all the other schools in the county have cancelled due to winter storms. The latter, however, takes the position that the college is always open regardless of wind and weather. We are in the midst of a blizzard right now — every other public school in the state and all the other colleges in the city where this college is located are closed. But not this one, no way. Somehow, I am expected to
PBS NewsHour Special on Adjuncts Tonight
by Josh Boldt I don’t have much information about this, but here’s what I know. Tonight, PBS NewsHour is supposedly running a special that will discuss adjuncts. Sorry about the short notice, but I’ve just learned this information myself. Kind of like when you get a course assignment that starts tomorrow. From what I can tell, air times will vary by region (maybe 7:30 Eastern?). Check your listings for specifics. The program is supposed to feature multiple adjuncts, one of whom is Joe Fruscione, an adjunct at George Washington University and contributor to the Adjunct Project blog. I don’t know
Same Teaching Award, Different Payout
by Spurgeon Thompson Adelphi University Today I received an e-mail announcing a call for nominations for teaching excellence awards. We’ve all heard of them, and many of us have been nominated in the past. But this one was shocking. I’m relatively new at Adelphi University in Long Island, and have been teaching English and Composition courses there for about a year now. I got a sense from the beginning that adjuncts were seen differently when I was told I’d be paid only four times in the semester, and by paper checks only (electronic paychecks are for full timers only) because,
Adjunct Voices
An Adjunct Embraces Plan B
Matt Thompson teaches at Old Dominion U. in Norfolk, Va.
Optimistic Adjunct, Economic Edge
Rob Balla teaches on as many as four campuses in northeastern Ohio
Speaking Out for Those Less Fortunate
Irene Schmidt, Johnson County Community College
A SERVICE OF THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
© Adjunct Project 2013