Adjuncts, Unions, and the "Right to Work"

2018 has become the Year of the Educator, with several "red" states' educators striking or otherwise successfully reminding their legislators about the, frankly, deplorable classroom situation in which our colleagues teach. As a union of educators, we applaud those secondary and primary teachers for their successful organizing (active verb) and effective communication with their sympathetic communities.

Source: Creative Commons

At the same time, the long discussion of adjuncts in colleges and universities reminds us that our contingent faculty colleagues struggle. The U.S. media applauds a strong economy (and we can argue that), but the situation for college adjuncts has maintained a sore discussion.

In 1975, 30 percent of college faculty were part-time. By 2011, 51 percent of college faculty were part-time, and another 19 percent were non–tenure track, full-time employees. In other words, 70 percent were contingent faculty, a broad classification that includes all non–tenure track faculty (NTTF), whether they work full-time or part-time. (Edmonds)

Of course, in Texas, we live and work in a "right to work" state (where educators who strike will have their teaching certificates and their Teacher Retirement System [TRS] benefits permanently revoked) and the economic market stacks the deck in favor of college employers, allowing them to cut back on wages and benefits (American Federation of Teachers). It's all about capitalism, right? Over the years, the number of full-time professors has dropped while that of adjunct professors has risen, as colleges attempt to rein in costs. Public colleges in particular rely on adjuncts.

This is a problem, because:

Firstly, some research demonstrates that the American academy reliance on adjuncts may harm students. Because of the realities of contingent working, adjunct faculties have fewer resources to support their students. This is more so in the community college, where our students need more resources, not fewer. For example, adjuncts rarely have dedicated office support staff, lack dedicated offices to meet with students, and many of our adjunct faculty drive from far away, arrive to campus in time to prepare the class, and need to leave after class for another job. This prevents convenient face-to-face time with students. The Delphi Project research has shown that students who take more classes from contingent faculty have lower graduation rates and are less likely to transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. Due largely to the exploitative conditions of their work, adjunct faculty are often less student-centered in their teaching, have less contact with students outside of class, and spend less time preparing for classes (Kezar & DePaola). A student's learning conditions will only ever be their teacher's working conditions.

Secondly, the hiring process reflects an economic market insecurity. Adjunct faculty are hired largely because of enrollment rates, and in community colleges, the enrollment rates are very sensitive to market economies. We have heard too many stories of adjuncts being hired a week before the semester, a day before the semester, the day after the semester has started, and the related stress of the insecurity and preparation. 

Thirdly, the insecurity of contingency reflects other economic insecurities and the first obvious is lack of health security. Though the Affordable Care Act attempted to address this, most community colleges lack support for  sufficient physical and mental health (this is true for Lone Star College, for example).  A March 2015 survey conducted by Pacific Standard among nearly 500 adjuncts found that a majority earn less than $20,000 per year from teaching (Chang). Nationally and locally, many adjunct faculty rely on additional government benefits. Typically, such as in Lone Star College, adjuncts are not paid for professional development and required department meetings. Of course, adjuncts are not paid for non "contact hours," though some disciplines require extensive preparation and grading. 

We should note that TA and adjunct union membership is increasing (Edwards and Tolley). The strongest strides over the past two years have been in non "right to work" states. In those other states:

Unionized faculty have negotiated steady increases that are significantly higher, and some of the steepest gains have come from unions formed within the last few years.

and

Eighty-nine percent of the contracts we examined include provisions allowing part-time faculty to receive health insurance. (Edwards and Tolley)

On the other hand, when a union does not collectively prioritize salary and benefits with adjuncts, these questions are delayed. In other words, as a union, we must prioritize our adjuncts' needs (salary, benefits, shared governance, working environment) for the whole college strength. Every department meeting, every curriculum discussion, every "safety" discussion on campus must include the real lives of our adjunct colleagues.

We Propose:

1. Tell stories. All employees should share stories of adjunct faculty; this blog is a perfect space to share and listen.
2. Share stories with the community. Lone Star College is somewhat effective with their marketing in the community, but the college does not market the adjunct reality. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) provides a useful set of questions to ask of any school you’re interested in.
3. Inform students of the realities of adjuncts, how our adjuncts must balance time and resources with students, and explain how tuition relates to a contingent faculty.
4. Include our adjunct colleagues in meetings, listen to their needs, collaborate with everyone for working space and support. When we discuss with administration, the term "adjunct" should be included in every conversation.  

Photo rawpixel on Unsplash

Resources

American Federation of Teachers. (n.d.) "What is Right to Work." 

Chang, Bettina. (2015) "Survey: The State of Adjunct Professors." Pacific Standard.

Coalition on the Academic Workforce. (2012) "A Portrait of Part-Time Faculty Members."

Edmonds, Dan. (2015) "More Than Half of College Faculty Are Adjuncts: Should You Care?" Forbes.

Edwards, Kristen and Kim Tolley. (2018) "Do Unions Help Adjuncts?

What dozens of collective-bargaining agreements can tell us. Chronicle of Higher Education.

Kezar, A. & DePaola, T. (2018). "Understanding the need for unions:  Contingent faculty working conditions and the relationship to student learning." In Professors in the gig economy: The unionization of adjunct faculty in America.

Korkki, Phyllis. (2018) "Adjunct Professors Step up Their Efforts to Increase Pay." New York Times.  

McKenna, Laura. (2015). "The Cost of an Adjunct." The Atlantic.