What's It All about?
When many of today’s faculty attended college, 75% or more of professors were full time, well paid, and college was relatively affordable. Decades later, college has become prohibitively expensive, and the majority of professors are contingent, adjunct faculty, mostly part-timers, who are typically paid a small fraction of the salary of a full time professor. Adjunct faculty often teach at multiple colleges to attempt to cobble together a living. Here at Dominican this is the reality for many of our best teachers, who teach 50% or more of our classes.
We became teachers after acquiring advanced degrees because of a passion for a subject, and a desire to share our knowledge with students. We typically began our careers thinking that part time work would lead to full time employment, but for a large majority this will never be the case. We work for low salaries, without benefits, often commuting to multiple campuses, using the trunk of our cars for an office. It is sometimes difficult to meet with students, and some studies have tied the rise of a contingent work force with negative impact on student learning outcomes.
According to a report on National Public Radio, adjunct professors typically earn between $20,000 - $25,000 annually. Many of us make far less. In addition to low wages, adjunct professors do not have access to health care, retirement, or numerous other benefits that full time faculty can take for granted. Even full time colleagues are ill served by this current situation. Due to an increasing reliance on part time workers, full time professors must shoulder a larger burden of administrative tasks than in the past, when that work would be shared by a larger number of teachers.
We became teachers after acquiring advanced degrees because of a passion for a subject, and a desire to share our knowledge with students. We typically began our careers thinking that part time work would lead to full time employment, but for a large majority this will never be the case. We work for low salaries, without benefits, often commuting to multiple campuses, using the trunk of our cars for an office. It is sometimes difficult to meet with students, and some studies have tied the rise of a contingent work force with negative impact on student learning outcomes.
According to a report on National Public Radio, adjunct professors typically earn between $20,000 - $25,000 annually. Many of us make far less. In addition to low wages, adjunct professors do not have access to health care, retirement, or numerous other benefits that full time faculty can take for granted. Even full time colleagues are ill served by this current situation. Due to an increasing reliance on part time workers, full time professors must shoulder a larger burden of administrative tasks than in the past, when that work would be shared by a larger number of teachers.
A Growing Movement
For all these reasons, there is a movement across the nation, and here on the Dominican campus, to form faculty unions. Faculty unions are already a common feature on many college campuses. In fact, many of us belong or have belonged to faculty unions at other schools. Forming a union should not be perceived as anti-Dominican or anti-administration. It is possible to love working here and still want to advocate for a more just and equitable work place.
The good news is that faculty at Mills, CCA, and SFAI have already voted to unionize, and are currently negotiating their first contracts. Many other schools across the US have been unionized – currently over 21,000 adjuncts now have the ability to sit down with administrators and collectively bargain for better working conditions. Check out some of the links on the resources page to see what adjunct faculty have said about their elections. Support Dominican University Adjuncts Unite!
This web site is a project of the Organizing Committee of Dominican University adjuncts. We come from a variety of disciplines. We have been meeting with representatives from SEIU working toward an election for part time faculty to decide whether or not to form a union.
We welcome students, full time faculty, alumni and the community to join with us envisioning and addressing this, the single most pressing social justice issue on campuses across the country. Our growing numbers are proof that our message is timely, our cause is just and our spirit is optimistic. Our petition of support is online at: http://adjunctactionbayarea-seiu1021.nationbuilder.com/dominican_petition |
|