4/20/15

Page 1

286 DePaulia

The

The No. 1 Weekly College Newspaper in Illinois

Volume #99 | Issue #21 | April 20, 2015 | depauliaonline.com

PERCENT THE RISE OF ADJUNCTS IN ACADEMIA

O

By Parker Asmann Asst. Sports Editor

ver time, higher education has transformed into a necessity for anyone wishing to succeed in life; however, a national crisis has reshaped the system and shifted it towards a money-focused business. Today our teachers are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated as a result of a growing trend that has turned education into a commodity to be bought and sold — the neo-liberalizing of higher education. Higher education faculty members are typically put on one of three tracks: A tenure track position; a full-time, non-tenure track position, also known as a contingent faculty position; or a part-time, non-tenure track position. Although historically institutions have aimed to hire predominantly tenure track faculty, many universities are hiring and relying more on part-time faculty that are expected to work more while being paid less. According to the 2013-14 American Association of University Professors (AAUP) annual report, the number of part-time faculty members and full-time, non-tenure track faculty members hired increased by 286 and 259 percent, respectively, since 1976. On the other hand, the amount of fulltime tenured and Since 1976, part-time faculty members at tenure track faculty colleges across the country have increased 286 members hired only increased 23 percent percent and full-time, non-tenure track faculty since 1975. hired increased by 259 percent. The AAUP reported that about 70 percent of university faculty members hold part-time positions today. In reality, many of these part-time faculty members are teaching the equivalent of a full-time teaching load, if not more. As a result, while adjunct positions were traditionally meant for individuals finishing up their doctoral degrees to teach about once a week, now adjuncting can be a career. This all too often leaves adjuncts struggling to pay the bills and

... A brand new car! How to find a car postgraduation. — page 14

juggling other forms of employment just to make ends meet. Based on numbers recorded by the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Adjunct Project, the average pay reported by DePaul adjuncts was between $3,000 and $6,000 per course, totaling to between a $18,000 and $54,000 salary per year. Letter to the editor: One adjunct’s story, page 12 The Faculty in Higher Students, faculty react: Page 5 Education Salary Survey, conducted by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, reported that tenure track faculty members have an average salary of between $90,000 and $100,000 at private doctoral institutions like DePaul. In addition, 79 percent of adjuncts around the country reported not receiving health insurance at their colleges and 86 percent did not receive retirement benefits or the opportunity to buy into a group retirement plan. One adjunct professor with a master’s degree from DePaul, who wished to remain anonymous, explained the financial struggles that an adjunct faces as a result of being a part-time faculty member. On top of struggling to make ends meet, part-time professors are often juggling multiple teaching positions at various institutions or finding other part-time employment. Consequently, stress levels have heightened and the feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day becomes overwhelming. “This job as an adjunct is about mediocrity,” the adjunct said. “It’s about taking people who have the capacity for excellence — and you see this everywhere, not just at DePaul — and taking what you want out of them and appropriating it and getting credit for it, while preventing folks from becoming too brilliant.” The fact that a severe restructuring of faculty compensation needs to be undertaken is not unique to DePaul.What scholars have coined as the neo-liberalizing of education is a national issue and one that needs to be

Record Store Day Photos of performances from Record Store Day 2015. — page 22

See ADJUNCT, page 4

Hrynko drafted by Dream DePaul women’s basketball star picked 19th in WNBA draft. — page 25


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4/20/15 by The DePaulia - Issuu