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Hi Matt and All: Here at Rutgers University where full-time faculty and TAs are in the same bargaining unit due to unusual historical circumstances, and where part-timers were later organized into a separate bargaining unit, full-time faculty, part-time lecturers, and Teaching Assistants have an excellent (but not perfect) alliance. Were it not for the initiative and support (both political and financial) of the full-time faculty union leadership, there would not be a part-time faculty union at all. It takes a great deal of work to maintain this alliance but it is worth it, since our separate bargaining unit gives us our own voice in negotiations yet we work closely together with full-timers and TAs. I can provide more details as requested. Karen Karen Thompson Rutgers AAUP-AFT 732-445-2278 x21 -----Original Message----- From: H-Net Network on Adjunct/part-time faculty issues [mailto:H-ADJUNCT@H-NET.MSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Howard Smead Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 10:50 PM To: H-ADJUNCT@H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: Adjunct employment Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 From: Matthew Birkhold <birkhold@gmail.com> Subject: Adjunct employment Hey Annaliese, Is it possible for you to say a little more about tenured faculty being scared for their job? I recently got into it with the president of the full-time faculty union (there is no part timers union) where I teach and said that until faculty unions begin reaching out to part-timers, the university will continue to outsource jobs to adjuncts. At that point she quit speaking to me. I have since come to the point where I am arguing that full time faculty members are looking at adjuncts like white unionized white workers historically looked at black workers and excluded them from unions because they saw them as a threat. Managers saw this and used black workers to keep the wages of white workers low. To this day we see the same thing in terms of immigrants. If full timers were to support our organizing efforts and create a united front, the university would be forced to open full time lines and everyone would have work. Speaking of all this, has anyone seen any part-time organizing attempts receive support from either full time unions or grad student unions? Hope all is well. peace, matt On 11/14/07, Howard Smead <howard@howardsmead.com> wrote: > Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 > From: Annaliese Schofield anna@net1plus.com > Subject: Adjunct employment > > I have an entire research document in PowerPoint format on the changing face > of higher education. One thing that comes across very strong is the growth > in the use of adjunct instructors. However conflicting the statistics > appear, the fact remains that as long as tenure faculty and administrators > do not remain dinosaurs (committed to the past ways) there is more than > enough room for all types of instructors. The future does appear to lean > more towards the use of adjuncts to save money, but the growth in the > industry is so strong and the information highway moving so rapidly, that > higher ed needs all the help they can get. There is so much room for > research into all the changes and information is moving so rapidly that > tenure faculty no longer have time on their side to get their research > completed. > > Nothing I read even remotely suggested that adjunct instructors were > inferior to their tenure cohorts, in fact the opposite appears to be true as > they are not bogged down with research. > > The difficulty is more political. Tenure faculty are fearful for their > positions and adjuncts are fighting for benefits and recognition. > > Again, just my two cents worth. I like to look at the fears and the > opportunities for each side of an issue. > > Peace > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Howard Smead" <howard@HOWARDSMEAD.COM> > To: <H-ADJUNCT@H-NET.MSU.EDU> > Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 6:43 AM > Subject: of course they do! > > > > Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 > > From: Sarah Massey-Warren <design-write@mindspring.com> > > Subject: of course they do! > > > > And adjuncts get paid nothing for doing so, and are constantly at risk for > > no employment. > > > > > > On Nov 13, 2007, at 8:18 PM, Howard Smead wrote: > > > >> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 > >> From: jpritch@icsmail.net > >> Subject: of course they do! > >> > >> Well of course adjuncts assign more top marks for student performance! > >> Adjuncts are better teachers-- more focused, more directed, and able to > >> channel student energy in positive directions. Net result? Students do > >> better. > >> > >> james pritchard > >> Ames, Iowa > >> > > > -- If one needs a community to resist interdependence must be seen as a moral obligation.
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