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COLGATE4

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114. My wife is a Professor Emeritus from a private

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 10:01 AM

Jun 2015

Michigan college with some 30-odd years of teaching under her belt. While at her university she won every teaching award the school had to offer. We both retired in 2008 and moved to Florida for the weather.

It occurred to her that she might like to teach a course or two, just to keep her hand in, so she talked with the University of South Florida here in Tampa who readily hired her as an adjunct. She wound up teaching 2 three-credit courses, i.e. five classes a week for each group. Of course as an adjunct no benefits of any kind were provided, no office, or other support. In addition, USF also required that she pay for her parking - some $200 a semester.

Our home is about a 45 minute drive from USF. Once we saw her paycheck after deductions and taking into account the cost of gasoline for the daily commute and the costs of her parking, her net pay worked out to be about $3.50 an hour!

Needless to say, she didn't continue as an adjunct professor. The slave wages they pay these very qualified and extremely hard-working people are criminal.

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I am an adjunct professor who teaches five classes. I earn less than a pet-sitter [View all] KamaAina Jun 2015 OP

I have a full time job and worked as an adjunct on the side. Evergreen Emerald Jun 2015 #1

Saddest story I ever read Blus4u Jun 2015 #72

Similar To Me ProfessorGAC Jun 2015 #107

My university is getting rid of adjuncts yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #2

I am not the author. KamaAina Jun 2015 #3

.Oh wow. First of all congratulations on Yale yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #4

What job? KamaAina Jun 2015 #5

Oh....sorry. yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #6

Oh I see. I reread your previous post yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #8

Do what you can to "cobble" together a Masters. That would help. nt ladjf Jun 2015 #13

Never have been sure what subject to specialize in KamaAina Jun 2015 #14

What is your major field. What elated Masters might get you a better job? ladjf Jun 2015 #20

Major was psychology (computer science track) KamaAina Jun 2015 #23

I thought the same thing SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #28

CS in high school?! KamaAina Jun 2015 #29

We did CS in elementary school Recursion Jun 2015 #34

That was my first computer, SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #37

Oh yes. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #35

If you don't enjoy social interaction with students and their parents you probably ladjf Jun 2015 #70

This is why I'm not looking to become one KamaAina Jun 2015 #90

If you're good with statistics get a Business Analytics degree tammywammy Jun 2015 #118

My advice, don't choose economics or an MBA. Everyone Exilednight Jun 2015 #116

The article reports that 76% of U.S. university instructional staff is now adjunct. pnwmom Jun 2015 #59

That's good to see. Adrahil Jun 2015 #112

I am a 13 university staff person who works in a library. Adjunct and staff are abused and exploited RadiationTherapy Jun 2015 #7

may I ask Skittles Jun 2015 #15

Where I am is very red and they hate taxes, state employees, and contemporary education RadiationTherapy Jun 2015 #16

My gosh that's disgusting. nt SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #33

This is so wrong! Left coast liberal Jun 2015 #9

Read a report that said the administrative side of colleges had quadrupled. dixiegrrrrl Jun 2015 #10

So that's where the money's going. A student I know just told me that pnwmom Jun 2015 #61

And the vast majority is going to the "CEO"s of these money-making schemes. erronis Jun 2015 #122

sickening ...this is the way to watch a country self destruct . olddots Jun 2015 #11

Another symptom of American Anti-Intellectualism. nm philly_bob Jun 2015 #12

The opposite. It's a symptom of too many people wanting to be in academia Recursion Jun 2015 #24

That's why I became a bricklayer (kidding) panader0 Jun 2015 #51

Depends on the field..... paleotn Jun 2015 #68

Not so, it's administrators pushing a business model that exploits labor JCMach1 Jun 2015 #79

I was offered an adjunct position the year after I returned to the states... I did the math JCMach1 Jun 2015 #80

How do you keep pay high with thirty applicants for every job? Recursion Jun 2015 #81

it's actually worse than that for every job... but the point is... adjunct positions JCMach1 Jun 2015 #84

Yeah I meant "thirty" Recursion Jun 2015 #85

Nope. Hissyspit Jun 2015 #92

Pay is a reflection of the value society places on an activity. philly_bob Jun 2015 #120

It's a pyramid scheme Recursion Jun 2015 #121

I grew up in a time when schools were expanding... philly_bob Jun 2015 #123

Yes with budget cuts all over the nation. They go after schools, any program to help women Rex Jun 2015 #45

This is why adjuncts need to unionize. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #17

The only thing that will fix this is fewer people trying to be professors Recursion Jun 2015 #22

I make twice what the adjunct in the OP makes for half the units. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #25

And the adjuncts aren't willing to risk not teaching at all Recursion Jun 2015 #26

Adjunct unionization is at an all-time high. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #30

Besides the 'too may teachers' is garbage RWing dogma. Rex Jun 2015 #47

The universities are doing the hiring. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #53

And those of us who are facing adjunct status for life... DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #106

((Hugs)) Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #115

You can put your fingers in your ears and call it dogma... MadDAsHell Jun 2015 #91

well, you can put your fingers in *your* ears and pretend we don't need nashville_brook Jun 2015 #100

There's too many people for every job arikara Jun 2015 #86

You've certainly got the whole make-allegations-lacking-any-objective-or-supporting-evidence thing d LanternWaste Jun 2015 #119

and the head of UMCP a state college earns about 1/2 million a year...... burfman Jun 2015 #18

i know someone who was a professor of philosophy DesertFlower Jun 2015 #19

Too many people want to teach at the University level Recursion Jun 2015 #21

You keep saying this, but it's only true if universities are businesses with a fiduciary duty to Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #32

State legislators d_r Jun 2015 #43

Unless they're also micromanaging, they can slash the budget somewhere else. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #46

What happens is d_r Jun 2015 #49

This also happens in private colleges. former9thward Jun 2015 #65

Then the fault is with the state for cutting budgets they should be expanding on. Rex Jun 2015 #50

Yes it is d_r Jun 2015 #52

It's not true at all, the poster must have got their news from a RWing rag. Rex Jun 2015 #48

Well, as long as admin can get away with increasing class sizes and bbgrunt Jun 2015 #54

Righty HATES education and HATES teachers. randys1 Jun 2015 #27

And they bow to the Gods of Idiocracy! n/t RKP5637 Jun 2015 #31

Exactly. The Reich Wing wants a nation of Faux Spews sheep. Education is lethal to ignorance. kairos12 Jun 2015 #40

And they truly believe teachers go in late, leave early, get all summer off, have a grand life randys1 Jun 2015 #42

The rich don't know a damn thing seveneyes Jun 2015 #36

Adjunct's continue to union organize around the US Omaha Steve Jun 2015 #38

And University coaches are making millions per year. Tells you where their priorities are. YOHABLO Jun 2015 #39

My teaching load is d_r Jun 2015 #41

Adjunct/part-time instructing as a main source of income is like AA minor league baseball. aikoaiko Jun 2015 #44

That's an interesting topic right there, what may happen with CCs stopwastingmymoney Jun 2015 #58

So much work ahead of us.... daleanime Jun 2015 #55

so you could hire four people like this professor for < 1 yr private univ cost 6chars Jun 2015 #56

Bwahahahaha DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #71

this is a puzzle 6chars Jun 2015 #74

I don't know where the $$ is going... DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #76

it should be possible to both pay profs and to make school affordable 6chars Jun 2015 #78

I was offered that from a SUNY starting off tenure line alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #83

I suspect my particular field gets paid bupkis compared to others... DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #99

Dang alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #103

For tenure track faculty positions... DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #104

So where is the sky-rocketing tuition going? At many private colleges, the tuition pnwmom Jun 2015 #57

You should see the doors and other amenities yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #63

When I was at BU they announced a tuition increase and the new Lazy River Recursion Jun 2015 #64

Admins. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #69

Thanks for the link. n/t pnwmom Jun 2015 #75

Everyone makes more than adjuncts The Wizard Jun 2015 #60

it will probably be moot soon enough restorefreedom Jun 2015 #62

It will probably be hard to get paid to teach 20 years from now Recursion Jun 2015 #66

agreed. i for one am glad restorefreedom Jun 2015 #67

MOOCs have been only partially successful and have their drawbacks. Hissyspit Jun 2015 #98

And supposed education intellectual liberal minded tenured professors are all talk about changing it Township75 Jun 2015 #73

Sounds like they need to make a different career choice boomer55 Jun 2015 #77

would you say that to a Medical Doctor... most of us have trained 8-12yrs for our positions JCMach1 Jun 2015 #82

If there were no non-poverty positions for him, yes Recursion Jun 2015 #87

But, they haven't starting turning all heart doctors magically into part-timers as old ones retire JCMach1 Jun 2015 #88

No, clearly you had a character flaw or were just stupid about the wonderful invisible hand of the Hissyspit Jun 2015 #96

Great post. +1 Pooka Fey Jun 2015 #97

There's no limit on the number of people who can get humanities PhDs Recursion Jun 2015 #102

Really. You think so? DeadLetterOffice Jun 2015 #105

Yes. The AMA limits how many medical schools the county as a whole can have Recursion Jun 2015 #108

Ugh. Hissyspit Jun 2015 #95

This message was self-deleted by its author Hissyspit Jun 2015 #93

omg. thank you for posting this Liberal_in_LA Jun 2015 #89

Our society is sick sellitman Jun 2015 #94

My night school adjuncts were some of the best One_Life_To_Give Jun 2015 #101

Education in general is deliberately undervalued by Conservatives and I think George Carlin stevenleser Jun 2015 #109

You should consider getting a job as a summer intern at Apple. pogglethrope Jun 2015 #110

colleges are 'for profit' now, they can fill with the wealthy, those who can get a loan & foreigners Sunlei Jun 2015 #111

Yes. Once again we must wonder WHERE PatrickforO Jun 2015 #113

My wife is a Professor Emeritus from a private COLGATE4 Jun 2015 #114

We can't sacrifice all workers in our society to greed, *except* adjunct professors... Romulox Jun 2015 #117