kiklion t1_ixhme5e wrote
Reply to comment by ___pa___ in New School makes “final offer” to striking part-time faculty in New York City by DrogDrill
So it sounds like the main issue is that adjuncts are capped at 9 credits a semester. Do you know why?
It’s generally a lot easier to get more hours at one job than to pick up a second job where scheduling may clash or an extra commute from a to b.
___pa___ t1_ixhp1dz wrote
Well, I don't have a good reason why they would be capped at 9 hours but it might be a combination of a few things. First it would look odd to teach more than a full time person. Second, adjuncts often teach to an expertise and there might not be enough classes in that area to offer more. Third, three classes is sometimes a healthy portion of classes in one subject and students should have some variety in professors. There are probably other administrative reasons but those are the ones from the teaching side I can imagine. But I don't think allowing them to teach more will help the problem. 9 credits implies about 20 hours a week including grading and answering emails and prep. So even 18 credits per semester twice a years is $60k and one would be hard pressed to live well on that especially if one had the qualifications to be a professor. Except in some fields, you can often find a job making twice adjunct pay easily. I just do not see being an adjunct exclusively as any way to try to live in NYC, unless you have money already and do it for other reasons.
kiklion t1_ixhq88y wrote
Thanks for your insight.
___pa___ t1_ixqe1lg wrote
Of course. It takes some time in the system to understand how it works, and different universities are different, so it might vary. Teachers in general should be paid more, all the way down to Pre-K, but that's how thing are. We as a society are willing to pay 100x more to people who manipulate financial numbers for a living than teach our kids... It's unfortunate.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments