National Labor Relations Board-Chicago
7 replies (most recent on top)
Indeed, one could earn more at the Whole Foods or Home Depot than as an adjunct...adjunct pays no more than pin money these days...
Full time faculty at DVU are a lost cause. We are subject to constant fear of impending layoffs, an unknown future for the entire company, Orwellian surveillance, fear of vengeful students and stupid management, and the daunting prospect of finding a new job. It is our destiny to be laid off or replaced with either cheaper new faculty or more adjuncts, just as soon as they can figure out how to do it without upsetting regulators.
There may be hope for the "visiting professors", aka adjuncts. They should unionize, because they are the future of our dying profession. It's not just DeVry. The same trends are happening everywhere in higher ed--less full-time, permanent positions, fewer and fewer tenure-track appointments. The Boards of Directors of colleges no longer care about making educational environments of growth and hope. They care about paying administrators overmuch, and saddling college students with unbearable debt that will determine their future for the rest of their lives. College teachers are worth almost nothing, economically, and are an exploited workforce, overall, but adjuncts especially so. Part of the difficulty is that so much information and learning are available free on the Internet, and what isn't there is produced by textbook manufacturers. Unless they are researchers, teaching faculty have, in essence, become "graders" in all but name, particularly as DeVry uses them.
Adjuncts should unionize. They need to earn a living wage. Otherwise, we are saying as a society that learning is worthless and that academic achievement is worthless. Don't get a Ph.D, it will wreck your life and you will be forced to work for multiple employers at less than minimum wage! You will be part of the overeducated working poor. The game is insane, and I would warn off anyone who thinks that higher ed is now a viable career choice. Get advanced degrees because you want them for life achievement, or are in a field where they actually have research jobs. Adjunct unionization needs to happen, but It should be by state, though, not by college, university, or diploma factory. DeVry "visiting professors"--who are actually teaching most of the courses, need to realize that they are just adjuncts. The term "visiting professor" actually means something else entirely--usually, a one-year appointment for a permanent faculty member on loan. DeVry uses it as a lie to underpay adjuncts and make them feel valued for less pay. It's been cut in recent years and there are more expectations to go with it.
DeVry adjuncts alone will just not be rehired back if they demand more money. Adjuncts overall need to unionize for a fair, living wage.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/01/30/surge-unions-adjuncts-private-colleges
Unionize? When I was there, I couldn't even get an off-the-books faculty senate going...people were too afraid they'd be fired if they looked cross-eyed at big brother.
the pushback on that 3.0 sh*t about using Inspire bs on email list is heroic
Well, in the words of Jean Kerr...If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation.
Nothing left to unionize...you're about ten years too late.
Nope
Unionize who? A little late for that...don't you think?