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indignation.
May. 21st, 2008 04:16 pmI am mad. Not mad for myself, which usually feels very different, frustrated and helpless. But mad because I have been tainted by association with a bad policy decision. Mad at the wrongness.
We are not hiring new lecturers next year. We have 20 sections with no instructors, but we can't hire any new full-time lecturers. I'm on the committee, and all this week we've been interviewing. Just when we had only 2 interviews left, word came down the wire that the lines had been cut.
You see, Tennessee has a tax shortfall, so we have to cut the budget. Fair enough. But let's consider: a class with 23 students (the cap for our composition courses) brings in $14,766 in maintenance fees alone (in-state). The instructor for that class costs 4,000 if part time and 8-9,000 if full-time (with benefits). Either way, the university would profit. I suspect some people in the dean's office want to cut the lecturer lines because they feel we are too dependent on lecturers and we need more tenure-track faculty. In principle, I agree. I'm in favor of increasing tenure-track lines. But what will happen in practice is that we will hire more part-time lecturers. We won't offer them benefits, and they can only teach a 75% load, so they'll need an extra job. Such workers do not perform at their best. Across the academy, everyone agrees that dependence on part-time adjunct labor decreases the quality of education. And yet that's what we're going to end up with.
One more thing. Our president John Peterson said in an email that there would not be a hiring freeze. Apparently he and I speak different languages.
Lastly, a word to all you parents out there. If your child is starting the University of Tennessee this fall, they probably won't get the English classes they need. We'll be cutting a bunch. Don't complain to us--complain to the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Bruce Bursten. It's not totally his fault either, but at least it's the right direction.
We are not hiring new lecturers next year. We have 20 sections with no instructors, but we can't hire any new full-time lecturers. I'm on the committee, and all this week we've been interviewing. Just when we had only 2 interviews left, word came down the wire that the lines had been cut.
You see, Tennessee has a tax shortfall, so we have to cut the budget. Fair enough. But let's consider: a class with 23 students (the cap for our composition courses) brings in $14,766 in maintenance fees alone (in-state). The instructor for that class costs 4,000 if part time and 8-9,000 if full-time (with benefits). Either way, the university would profit. I suspect some people in the dean's office want to cut the lecturer lines because they feel we are too dependent on lecturers and we need more tenure-track faculty. In principle, I agree. I'm in favor of increasing tenure-track lines. But what will happen in practice is that we will hire more part-time lecturers. We won't offer them benefits, and they can only teach a 75% load, so they'll need an extra job. Such workers do not perform at their best. Across the academy, everyone agrees that dependence on part-time adjunct labor decreases the quality of education. And yet that's what we're going to end up with.
One more thing. Our president John Peterson said in an email that there would not be a hiring freeze. Apparently he and I speak different languages.
Lastly, a word to all you parents out there. If your child is starting the University of Tennessee this fall, they probably won't get the English classes they need. We'll be cutting a bunch. Don't complain to us--complain to the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Bruce Bursten. It's not totally his fault either, but at least it's the right direction.