tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post8248378213776735070..comments2024-03-22T17:34:23.202-05:00Comments on Bad Outfit, Great Lipstick: You Guys Ask Awesome QuestionsMiss Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08220111649046519267noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-83635662676665275182017-08-02T16:50:01.579-05:002017-08-02T16:50:01.579-05:00Thank you for answering my questions!Thank you for answering my questions!Nicole_Elizabeth_Gabriela_Schwarcz_Fabyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11708767146686552294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-43140357934832119552017-07-17T14:14:12.384-05:002017-07-17T14:14:12.384-05:00"The profession is totally untenable. And the..."The profession is totally untenable. And the most infuriating part is that many successful academics refuse to acknowledge how bad it's gotten."<br /><br />Several of my tenured professors from undergrad and, to a lesser extent, graduate school, have been vocal about the need to support adjuncts. I'm glad for them. But you're right: there are many people who just don't care. Sometimes I hear stories about full time professors having meetings where they decide to screw adjuncts in various ways, like, "Well, we want to make sure they *behave* and do a good job, so we'll just give them one lump payment at the end of the semester." And that BOGGLES me. Are you so comfortable with your middle-class, bi-weekly salary, solid health insurance coverage, and personal office that you can't see how insane it is to make somebody work for 4 months with no pay until the end? I know I'm not the only adjunct who lives paycheck to paycheck. And we can't do anything without those full timers supporting us because, with a few exceptions, we aren't part of a union and our contracts are by semester. Kick up too much fuss? "Oh, we just didn't need her this semester."<br /><br />And you bring up a great point that I truly hate mentioning: the people from the best programs with the nicest pedigrees are the only ones with a fighting chance, and even they have it tough these days. One of my friends went to Ivy League schools, has published quite a bit, and is extremely intelligent, and while he's managed to get a full-time job, he's gone through a number of interviews with no payoff and cannot get on the tenure track. If he's having a rough time, what hope is there for someone like me, even at the community college level that I prefer to teach at?<br /><br />"Frankly, even if I get a job, I'll have deep moral misgivings about entering a profession that treats most of its members so callously. So I feel you, and I hope you find something a lot more fulfilling and rewarding."<br /><br />I'm with you, and I wish you the best.Miss Reneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08220111649046519267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-42163176398866401822017-07-17T13:07:51.264-05:002017-07-17T13:07:51.264-05:00Warning: rant incoming.
So, my cohort of ~12 grad...Warning: rant incoming.<br /><br />So, my cohort of ~12 grad students is currently entering its eighth year. One person has gotten a tenure-track job, and that was a very atypical case--an older guy who had published a lot before grad school. The second-most successful of us is me (in that I've had multiple interviews), and I STILL DON'T HAVE A JOB. About half of us have despaired of getting a tenure-track job and left academia entirely. And this is at one of the top English PhD programs in the country, at an Ivy League school. The profession is totally untenable. And the most infuriating part is that many successful academics refuse to acknowledge how bad it's gotten. The most clueless of them say "well, it was just as bad in 1979 and I got a job" (objectively, demonstrably false). Or they deliberately turn a blind eye to the crisis, either because it's too painful to see most younger scholars struggling, or because they've got theirs and screw everyone else. Our profession is in an existential crisis and the response of most people in power is "la la la, can't hear you, everything's fine!" Honestly? They should be fucking MARCHING IN THE STREETS to defend the rest of us, not locking themselves in their offices to write yet another article on Spenser.<br /><br />This will be my last year on the job market (I'm planning to defend in December even though I have no idea how I'll make money in the spring, hahaha kill me), and after that, I'm out. Frankly, even if I get a job, I'll have deep moral misgivings about entering a profession that treats most of its members so callously. So I feel you, and I hope you find something a lot more fulfilling and rewarding.auxiliary beautyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02704228759091361669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-41960302997698079702017-07-17T11:16:22.469-05:002017-07-17T11:16:22.469-05:00I think the most I've ever had in a semester w...I think the most I've ever had in a semester was close to 80, since the classes are currently capped at 25-30 students per classroom (ugh) and adjuncts are only permitted to have 3 classes a semester. That said, I know some adjuncts at other schools are allowed 4 classes a semester, or they teach at more than one school. I also tend to be grading more than one thing at a time (usually an essay and a homework assignment), and it can be more than 25 minutes if it's a longer paper. But I think 100 students gives people an easy reference point.Miss Reneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08220111649046519267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-10126199285932033962017-07-16T21:53:40.724-05:002017-07-16T21:53:40.724-05:00This is such a fun post. I'll comment on one o...This is such a fun post. I'll comment on one of the un-fun parts of it (typical!). I'm right there with you on the academic career thing. I've had enough one-years jobs; I just really want some stability. I realized today that there were just 3 tenure-track jobs in my area in all of North America this past year (take my discipline and divide it roughly into six equal areas, and 3 jobs in my sixth). I don't buy lottery tickets, so why would I play those odds!? By the way, 100 comp students?? I had 60 in a writing course one semester, and just that many was inhumane. I know 100 isn't unheard of, at all, but yikes. I hope you find something else fulfilling to do! I'm sure you will, but it's so stressful, I know.Lyn Bhbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12081735635995970890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-82741023248119639842017-07-16T14:23:00.202-05:002017-07-16T14:23:00.202-05:00As a business decision, I get it: it's cheaper...As a business decision, I get it: it's cheaper to pay somebody a maximum of, say, $8,000 a semester before taxes while not paying for their healthcare. And if they don't cut it, you don't have to go through a bit firing process, you just don't send them a new contract. But when you step away from the business side of it and look at how it impacts the education students get and the lives adjuncts live, it kinda sucks.<br /><br />There are some people who adjunct on the side or in retirement, and that's fine for them. But if you're actually trying to make a career in academia, the sad truth is that adjunct positions or short-term contracts are often all that's available, and you can't live on them unless your partner pays most of the bills.Miss Reneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08220111649046519267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836843585087892027.post-31198626724845822262017-07-16T12:52:00.817-05:002017-07-16T12:52:00.817-05:00You're right, these were some awesome question...You're right, these were some awesome questions! I work at a college, but not on the faculty side of things (I work in financial aid) so getting the perspective of an adjunct is really interesting to me. I had no idea about the issues regarding benefits or how pay is determined. We've definitely seen some restructuring around hiring on my campus, especially within the fine arts and humanities (which has caused some tension considering that we're a liberal arts college haha). I'm not sure where I'm going with this except to say that I appreciate your honest answer and I wish that this wasn't the direction that so many colleges were going in.karrialicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10020021935312828776noreply@blogger.com