Thread regarding DeVry Inc. layoffs

I am a former DeVry full-time Professor who was blessed to have been hired as a,full-time professor at a community college last year. I had been at DeVry 17 years. While it is true community college jobs are out there, they are difficult to get. I applied to many different community colleges for 10 years before being hired. During those 10 years of applying, I only had 3 second interviews. There were many times I didn't get an interview at all.

My advice would be to initially apply for part time teaching jobs. If you have that on your resume, it will definitely help. Of course, you never know how long it will take. But don't stop applying. Whenever you see an opening where you think you fit, send your stuff in. You have nothing to lose.

I was fortunate enough to turn 65 when I was fed up. Retirement was not something I desired, but it was better than continuing under an oppressive and demoralizing regime. I took on some part-time adjunct work to supplement my retirement and am roughly as economically well off as when working full-time. People in their 40s, 50s, and early 60s are not going to be as employable in their fields: the competition is stiff for full-time employment. Also, it is hard to go from 70K or 80K down to 50K even if full-time jobs at CCs are available (I don't know of any that are hiring). Even adjunct roles are increasingly competitive...

YmYo8IG-lsmn It depends where you live. What geographical location. No they are not plentiful in some areas. Otherwise we would be there! Please take note of this.

There are full-time faculty jobs in good supply in Community College sector (which would employ Devry Profs) It might require some search and maybe a willingness to move and compromise on pay but the jobs are there.

eozm...I took a week off from all this...Holy Week...thought I'd reflect. Well, I'm done reflecting. If you're a full time faculty member, you're the last of a dying breed. 80 % or so of college teaching positions are held today by adjuncts. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/04/adjunct-professors-higher-education-thea-hunter/586168/

They're the answer to a university's need to cut costs. So, if you decide to chuck it, just know there's nothing out there that will come close to what you currently have now...even with all its faults. I think your bosses know that as well. So, they're toeing the line, cracking the whip, earning kudos and bonuses for their hard-charging and their pressure tactics, squirreling away the cash and stock options for the long winter to come. When people come to find out just what was done here, and what their role in all this was...well, let's just say they're playing like there's no tomorrow.

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished; that will be the beginning."

Louis L’Amour

This thread is growing rather harsh, though it’s not surprising since so many faculty feel abused. I’ve been seeing three groups of people. One group has somehow successfully managed to escape and they’ve moved on. There’s a second group of people who’ve been looking, sending resumes, and interviewing, unbeknownst to their supervisors. The third group have reconciled themselves to going down with the ship or soon being fired, whichever comes first, then trying to survive until Medicare and Social Security kicks in. Most of us are convinced that this organization is a patient that’s already dead but has been hooked up to life support, and it may not be very long before this misery ends and we commence a merciful teachout.

exyr--seriously? Write a letter of concern? No, you're not serious. As for other employment--people in their 50s and 60s will be very unlikely to find comparable salary in their fields. So, kind of shut up?

There is new management, why not write your own “letter of concern” to Palm Ventures/Cogswell’s Cogs? Ask them if this is who they are, what they want to be known for. Ask them if this is what they believe in. Is this how they treat their employees and students. You don’t have to sign it....you just have to mail it.

Seriously though...you can get out and find other jobs. It may take a while. Use AdTalem on your resume, and not DeVry. I left a few years ago but I was just as certain that my life was ruined and I was never going to get any other jobs, that I was worthless and a fraud, and that only the kind *ssholes st DeVry would ever pay me a salary. It’s STOCKHOLM SYNDROME!!! Maybe you don’t love your captors but you have accepted this view of theirs. It’s at least co-dependency. Realize that you can be free of them, even if it takes work. They are like an abusive spouse. It’s a process and it requires you to move forward. Polish your resume and cover letters and stop letting DeVry beat you down emotionally. You have potential and you are better than that. Sorry to preach but I went through it myself. There is hope. You have to put the work in to get out. I am rooting for you all.

And management leverages, and counts on, this economic entrapment of the middle-aged masses in our country, hence the ongoing Dickensian existence of the increasingly abused DeVry professor. How did we come to find ourselves here in this little shop of horrors? Like the proverbial frog sitting in the slowly heating pot, until it’s too late...

cvgl: when you're 50 or 60 something, finding another job is very.very.hard. People have mortgages, bills, kids...no one can afford to simply dump a job.

I just don't get it...why are we still having this conversation? uninspiring leadership...exploitive practices...the knowledge that you're expendable and will be dropped like a hot potato the moment this thing goes sour...who needs it? there are other places to work which aren't as humiliating and soul crushing.

An excellent review of the plight of faculty was just posted by “cyno.” Along with the adjective “Miltonic” I would like to add “Orwellian” to characterize the work environment. Further disheartening was witnessing the sycophancy of some colleagues as they descended into desperation. It has been a horror to watch and experience.

Nearly all of my full-time colleagues (and me, too) were 60+. We all survived to BFF status (not best friends forever; best faculty forward). And after 2016, the lives of the "best" descended into hellacious treatment: learn technology du jour, host webex meetings weekly, tutor outside of your preparation, individuate feedback (for 40+ per class and 3 classes), commute for hours twice weekly for 2-5 students, create course content, serve, serve, serve....they had a Miltonic understanding of hell for faculty. I quit. Faugh. But it rankles me that I played into their desires...still, there it is.

A letter of concern can happen at any age but typically happens when you express your concerns about unethical behavior that you witness such as what is being discussed here.

bbkt...what on earth is a letter of concern?

5 Signs of Age Discrimination

Older workers are being fired or offered buyouts, and younger ones are being hired. The most common term for this is "culture fit." ...

You are reassigned to unpleasant duties. ...

You start hearing tacky comments about your age. ...

You stop getting raises. ...

Your performance reviews tank.

It happened to me, and it can happen to you. DeVry has its own personal touch by having you sign a letter of concern.

aoqp...The only real course of action is just not to sign the contract, refuse to do it, and look elsewhere. It's not a place you want to list on your resume. I was at one of the campuses not long ago...the place was so empty you could roll a bowling ball down the hallway and not hit anything or anyone.

And these videos they want created...on your time and at your expense...why would anyone do such a thing, or worse yet, expect someone else to do it unless it felt it had leverage? If you sign the contract, you're giving them that leverage. Don't sign it.

If everyone recalls, at the end of June in 2016, 40% of full-time faculty were laid off. Many would surely have plenty to say/report....BUT, in order to receive the severance packages offered, everyone signed a contract pledging to be silent on all issues regarding DeVry.......and, the consequence of not following that contract was listed as vigorous legal action that would take back any severance that was paid. Intimidation works and is the way of the business world these days :-(

@YmYo8IG-aylh, actually, there may be more options, but no one will consider them. Has anyone even tried to organize a union? Has anyone contacted a lawyer?

9nqb...If that's the case...looks like you have two options.

It looks like we agree to this dumb training every time we sign a teaching assignment contract. On the DeVry University Visiting Professor Assignment, under section I (ASSIGNMENT), part D (Job Expectations), the second paragraph states, "In addition to teaching, Professor is expected to...attend orientation, meetings, and on-going training as required by DeVry;".

Then the following sentence says, "Professor is expected to perform other duties as assigned by DeVry."

In short, they can force anything they want on us and there's nothing we can do about it but quit.

9ozr--true, but if they are trying to squeeze out the full-time faculty, they would have to treat everyone equally--or there really would be cause to litigate. Full-timers must endure long commutes, tow the line on bogus weekly lectures, and endure all of the disgusting (lack of) educating they are expected to (not) accomplish. I suspect anyone who can quit, will.

I am relieved to see so many of you refusing to do the CBC "training". I was on the fence about it but now that I know I am not alone I will be joining you all in refusing to waste my time. I wonder what Devry will do when they lose so many of their visiting professors because of this.

My wife thinks all of this is an obvious tactic to get people to quit, but that doesn't make sense with adjuncts because if they want to get rid of us they can just stop giving us contracts.

I received an email re:training that I need to do them all...the old ones and also the new training...while I like a few extra bucks, I am now only a super-adjunct getting an 8 week online class every other term (3 or 4 classes a year). If you dilute my average salary with the @40 volunteer hours of all this training,, sorry not worth it...also, not guaranteed to even get those 4 classes.

8jhq...a little bit, yeah.

@YmYo8IG-8uhg, you can at least post something on Glassdoor.

For those who are willing to be courageous, there are other avenues, including David Halperin (Republic Report), Veterans Education Success, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Please let me know if you need a connection. You can email me through an anonymous email program.

Sounds like the mafia.

7ndc...that could be a dead end...former workers are often dismissed as disgruntled former employees...the 'axe to grind' sort....and their information may not be up to date, making them unreliable to investigators. You need someone inside...a whistleblower...someone who's been around long enough to know where the bodies are buried, and lead investigators to the shovels. They should also be prepared financially to endure the consequences. Whistleblowers rarely find themselves welcome anywhere. Given the fact that the for profit industry as a whole has been weakened and generally discredited by other institutions, there won't be any open doors for anybody, let alone a snitch.

They don't work. No matter what I tried, I could only keep their interest for about an hour, and only 6 loyal people participated each week. NO ONE WATCHED THE RECORDINGS.

have they given any information to FT about 90 minute videos? How do these managers expect 90 min. videos to work?

The difficulty is that reporting cannot be done anonymously. I've searched both the NLRB and Dept Of Labor sites, and any type of report requires the filer to self-identify. That sounds like a great way to guarantee I'd never be assigned a class again.

Someone not currently working there needs to step up.

The "trainings" serve two purposes:

1. They are are a thinly disguised attempt to have visiting faculty develop materials for free, such as videos and class assignments, that DeVry owns and that the company can use in their classes without any compensation to the faculty who prepared them.

2. They are a gauge of how much abuse the managers can inflict on their employees without the employees complaining or pushing back.

Having employees work for free is unethical to the extreme, but is typical of the moral vacuum in which the DeVry managers operate. There are no new skills being imparted as a result of completing the training assignments, but there is a lot of useful content for the company being developed. The trainings are also a good way of determining who will demean themselves by working for minimum wage or below, who is willing to take the most abuse, and who can be manipulated easily. These individuals will be given more classes.

Just like 3fgm, I am not going to attend the training and I accept that I will be sorted out and will not be given any more classes.

In addition to contacting the NLRB, has anyone considered contacting Senator D--k Durbin's office?

@YmYo8IG-3xkv, what's stopping DeVry from unionizing? It's been done before, with at least two Art Institutes.

And if they do complete the training there’s a strong possibility many might not be scheduled for classes. The plight of the adjunct. No guarantees.

If they don't complete the training they will not receive classes.

Contact the National Board of Labor Relations. Teachers have done this before, and every time, the administration has backed down. LB and TZ are bullies and get away with this because no one has rebelled.

If adjunct instructors don't complete the trainings will they likely not be scheduled for classes?

@3fgm, me too. We may not be allowed to unionize, but we can take a stand together against this outright theft of our time and energy.