Just wanted to throw in my 50 cents on this thread. I can see the argument for successfully working as an adjunct by teaching enough classes to make a decent living. I can see that it is flexible and can be as secure as you make it, with the exception of those "low enrollment" years when full-timers can (and do) exercise their option of taking over an adjunct's class at the 11th hour because their courses did not fill up (happened to me more than once last year - and, overnight, my course-load was reduced by 50% at one institution - ouch).
Sure, we can make a nice living as the teaching gypsies that we are. And, on the surface, it can look good to make 40 or 50K - but upon further examination, that is not our reality. I think that the real disparity is in the area of those "perks" that are taken for granted with full-time work. The full-timers enjoy a certain kind of peace-of-mind in that area that we do not. When you add up the costs of these perks, which I must provide for myself, my annual income seems quite lacking. For example, many of us do without or pay high out-of-pocket fees for individual Health Insurance benefits (which, depending on age can be as high as $500 per month in my area for an HMO!) and retirement plans/funds. Less important but very "perky" are the paid holidays, vacations, sabbaticals, and college-sponsored continuing education opportunities. As adjuncts, wouldn't it be nice to know that, if we were suddenly disabled or ill, we could keep a roof over our heads? I have no answers here. I have only the "wish" that we would move more swiftly toward organizing or unionizing nationally, so we can create these safety-nets for ourselves. If and when we do, just tell me where to sign up. Haydee Gelpi Broward Community College Florida -----Original Message----- From: pakindle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:27 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: Adjuncts - Working for Peanuts! On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, Louis Schmier wrote: > She works for a lot of scattered peanuts. She reminds me of the pigeons I > used to feed at a kid on the sidewalks of NYC: runing helter-skelter > pecking a peanut here, another there, still another over there. She does not give this impression in person. She does what she prefers to do - teach. Few of my tenured professors have her enthusiasm. > Not sure > her form of personal freedom is as free and nourishing as it seems. What > happens to those not in the situation where the peanuts are scattered > about in close proximity or where there is only one peanut on which to > nibble? She addresses this issue in her "How to Survive . . . " and admits that one must be in an urban area where there are adequate peanuts to go around. There are few secure jobs anywhere in America today. Every business person knows that the only way to have job security is to continually provide value to their employer. Carroll has embraced the contemporary business climate and applied it to education. That she has done so successfully, with a strong focus on limiting her work to that which she most enjoys, is commendable. Her proactive approach seems preferable to lamentations. Peter A. Kindle 4722 Silverlake Dr. Sugar Land, TX 77479 281-565-1134 832-541-9469 (cell) [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
