Worth sharing June 16 2014



I thought this article I read today was worth sharing. It should make for an interesting discussion. Here some excerpts:

“Presidents, Do Right by Athletes and Adjuncts”

“Dear College President:

A disturbing pattern in higher education has come to my attention, and that of my colleagues on the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Our committee has been examining recent efforts by both adjunct professors and college athletes to organize and bargain for better working conditions.”

“Colleges and universities should stand as pillars of fairness and honor in their communities, with missions to expand knowledge and opportunity for all, but we have instead seen that many colleges are increasingly exploiting cheap labor in the classroom and on the athletic field. And when campus workers try to band together to improve their lives, administrators’ responses generally range from trying to scuttle the workers’ efforts to repeating old promises of change—with little or no action.”

“As I’m sure you know, your institutions increasingly rely on contingent faculty members to teach courses. Those adjunct professors receive little from their respective employers in the way of compensation and job security. Earlier this year, I issued a report, "The Just-in-Time Professor," that summarizes concerns about adjuncts’ working conditions, as relayed to me in an eForum.”

“Adjuncts compose nearly 75 percent of the teaching faculty on college campuses, but some live on the edge of poverty and rely on public assistance to make ends meet, despite teaching courses at several institutions at once. Their median salary is just $22,041, below the poverty line for a family of four.”

Read the whole thing here: http://chronicle.com/article/Presidents-Do-Right-by/147103/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam