ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016
Volume 144 №43
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
Dependence on contingent faculty erodes MU mission Professor,
second class Tenure/Tenure Track
First in a series FACULTY
MEGAN ZAHNEIS NEWS EDITOR
John-Charles Duffy can’t get off his hamster wheel. Last fall, after four years of teaching in Miami’s Department of Comparative Religion, Duffy was promoted from visiting assistant professor (VAP) to instructor. That’s a step up in salary and job security. But it’s still not the tenure-track position he’s hoped for since earning his Ph.D. in 2011. To have a chance at tenure—that is, career-long job security— at Miami or another institution, he’ll have to make original contributions to knowledge in his field. But to do that, he needs time for research, and only professors on the track toward tenure have that luxury. Duffy’s grateful just to have a job in his field. It’s more than many Ph.D.s have. But he’s paid to teach fulltime, not to do research— thus the inescapable hamster wheel. “The danger is that, once you’re a VAP or a lecturer,” he said, “you’ll get caught in this cycle where all your
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TESS SOHNGEN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
A small dog wandered in the middle of the empty road. The Cubans standing on the edges of the blockaded road yelled at the dog and then for the guards to move the animal before it was hit. At any moment the motorcade would come speeding down the cobblestone street — the moment the Cuban citizens have been waiting for since they lined up along the sides of the road. President Obama was coming. A guard sprinted across the road and moved the dog to safety. The crowd cheered. Even in the rain, it was an energy and openness that Miami professor Melanie Ziegler had not experienced in her nine trips to Cuba. Minutes later, President Obama and his family rode down the street. President Obama had just laid a wreath at the Cuban journalist and poet José Martí’s grave. March 20 marked the first time a U.S. president had travelled to Cuba in 88 years. In what Obama called “a historic moment,” the first family’s trip to Cuba marked a large step toward the end of animosity between two
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The proportion of credit hours taught by contingent faculty at Miami has increased by 15 percent over the last 10 years. time is spent teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, and you’re not able to get your research done, which means, in the end, you can never get off the wheel.” Duffy is part of a growing class of university faculty at Miami and across the country: the contingents—so called because they work on year-to-year contracts, unlike tenured professors, who earn lifetime job security after a probationary period of several years on the “tenure track.” Contingent faculty are bearing an increasing share of Miami’s teaching load. The proportion of courses taught by full-time non-tenure-track faculty rose from 23 percent in fall 2004 to 39 percent in fall 2015. And that doesn’t count the many courses taught by
Professor travels to Cuba for presidential visit INTERNATIONAL
Adjunct, Part-time, & Graduate Assistants
Non-Tenure Track
countries separated by only 90 miles of sea. “This was the moment I thought was the tipping point. I thought, I absolutely had to be there … and it was worth it,” said Ziegler. “I just wanted to be there to see this historic moment that I honestly did not know when and if it would ever come.” Ziegler made a last minute decision to travel to Cuba with her daughter for President Obama’s visit. She booked part of an old mansion for three nights through Airbnb, a website that allows people to list and rent accommodations for travelers. The owners had kept the mansion “frozen in time” to keep the antique charm and culture of the building alive through original furniture and vibrantly colored walls. Ziegler’s fascination with Cuba predates Fidel Castro’s rise to power. Her interest in Cuba and the Spanish language was sparked by the character Ricky Ricardo from the 1950s sitcom “I Love Lucy.” She calls herself a “Cuba-holic” and continued to stare and smile at the map of the island country taped to her desk as she recalled stories from her trips. Growing up during the Cold War, the memories of cuba »PAGE 8
“adjunct” faculty, other parttimers and graduate students, who make roughly $2,000$4,000 per course, sometimes while working other jobs. Yet despite their growing responsibility for educating Miami’s students, many contingents contend they are treated as second-class academic citizens, with less security, lower pay, less authority, and less academic freedom than their tenuretrack peers. Duffy’s story is a cautionary tale not only for contingent faculty like himself, but for Miami as a whole, since the university’s growing reliance on contingents calls into question its claim to provide a “public Ivy”-caliber education. Professors... and not
At Miami and many other colleges and universities, contingent faculty are the imperfect solution to chronic budget problems that worsened with the onset of the Great Recession. They are essentially stopgaps for departments that would like to hire tenure-track faculty but can’t. So they’ve become the underlings of higher education—overworked, underpaid, and usually powerless within their departments. “It’s creating a two‑class faculty structure,” said James Brock, a tenured professor of economics. “Everybody else is the bottom class.The problem with that is that everybody else is who’s doing all the teaching. So it is, in effect, downgrading the importance and value of teaching by saying the real faculty
New benches to make campus more accessible CAMPUS
KAREN AUGENSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Rachel Reeves, a sophomore and the Associated Student Government’s Director of Disability Advocacy, has passed a resolution in ASG that will lead to the construction of six to eight benches around Miami University’s campus. Reeves estimates the construction and installation of the benches will cost approximately $6,000, and ASG hopes to have them installed by fall 2016. Reeves has been working with members of Student Senate to allocate funds. “I am really excited to get these things on the ground. I want them to be built as soon as possible,” Reeves said. Currently, there are very few benches available on Miami University’s campus, particularly in high-traffic areas. Due to Miami University’s terrain, students who have mobility disabilities struggle when traveling to and from classes. Reeves, who has a physical disability, noted the importance of having accessible benches when traveling around campus. “I’ve missed class before because I can’t make it up large hills,” Reeves said. “If there is a bench available,
I might not have to stop as much to catch my breath. If there are benches available, I will miss less class and become a better student because of that. For people that need to use these benches, it is astronomically beneficial.” Miami University has approximately 800 students who are registered with Student Disability Services. According to Andrew Zeisler, director of Student Disability Services, accommodations such as benches benefit these students, who comprise about 1 percent of the student body. In addition, Zeisler said benches can serve a dual purpose. “Benches not only benefit the social aspect on campus, like having places to sit, but also it is beneficial for students who have a physical disability who may need to rest or pace themselves while walking to class,” Zeisler says. “They will benefit everyone.” Ellen Kahle, a freshman with a physical disability, agreed that benches around campus will be beneficial all around. “It will provide people with more opportunities to have a comfortable seat benches »PAGE 8
A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT
Classification of contingent faculty:
stars don’t do so much teaching; the grunts do the teaching. And that puts teaching in a very negative light. I think it can’t help but do that. It unavoidably tags teaching as lower-class activity.”
Part-time faculty: Often called “adjuncts,” who typically teach a class or two per semester with low pay and no guarantee of later contracts.
One contingent’s story John-Charles Duffy’s job search started before he had even finished his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of North Carolina. In 2011, after countless hours spent applying for entry-level positions in academia, he was hired to teach three courses per term as a VAP in Miami’s Department of Comparative Religion. That meant very long days—one former Miami VAP estimates he worked 80 hours per week—but at least
Instructors: Full-timers contracted year by year with a five-year limit. VAP: Visiting assistant professors are also fulltime. More likely than instructors to hold a Ph.D., they make slightly more money, but also work a five-year limit. LCPL: Lecturers, clinical and professionally licensed faculty are hired annually.
ADJUNCT »PAGE 3
Miami musicians bring classical music to India
CONTRIBUTED BY SRINIVAS KRISHNAN
Eight students spent their spring break in India, touring the country to perform with the Global Rhythms Orchestra. INTERNATIONAL
RILEY STEINER
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Over spring break, eight Miami University students traveled to India to perform as part of the Global Rhythms Orchestra. They spent nine days in Chennai and Pondicherry, performing music, visiting historic sites and collaborating with esteemed musicians. The trip was led by Srinivas Krishnan, who teaches a sprint course and organizes the Global Rhythms performances at Miami each fall.
In the spring, Krishnan lives in Chennai. The first day the students arrived in India, they rehearsed with the Sunshine Orchestra, helmed by A.R. Rahman, a two-time Academy Award-winning Indian artist who created the Orchestra to teach music to underprivileged young people. Miami’s students had only one day to rehearse with the Sunshine Orchestra before their first performance. The open-air venue was an hour outside of Chennai, and the day was a sweltering 95 deindia »PAGE 9
NEWS p. 2
NEWS p. 3
CULTURE p. 4
OPINION p. 6
SPORTS p. 10
MURAL DEFACED WITH HOMOPHOBIC SLURS
SPECIAL REPORT:
ONE WRITER’S LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP
EDITORIAL BOARD CRITIQUES TINDER APPLICATION
BASEBALL TAKES BACKSEAT TO FOOTBALL
Split ends cause distress, haircuts over break provoke identity crisis.
Recent TMS article raises concerns over the gamification of relationships.
Columnist calls for an embrace of the great American pastime.
Vandalization attacks Miami’s LGBTQ+ community, Women’s Center.
Continued from Page 1, one visiting assistant professor’s experience sheds light on the exploitation of contingent faculty across higher education.