In response to Dr. Hiestand's earlier e-mail:

Dear Dr. Hiestand,



The contingent faculty debate (I must wonder aloud why you place the term in
quote marks?) centers on precisely what you intimate: things were different
15-20 years ago. At that time, adjuncts were folks who taught in addition to
their full-time jobs, for enjoyment and enrichment. They offered students
real-world experience in the classroom and offered the university
opportunities to create specialized courses. Adjuncts functioned as liaisons
between communities and universities.



In the past 15 years, however, universities increasingly rely on contingent
faculty to carry larger and larger percentages of their class loads,
particularly those classes with a heavy grading burden, which tenured
faculty do not want to teach. By hiring contingent faculty, the university
can get away with not providing long-term benefits. In the case of adjunct
faculty, they can provide no benefits or security whatever. There is no
shortage of potential adjunct faculty, as the number of tenure-track
positions shrinks (replaced by contingent faculty) and as graduate programs
continue to turn out graduates eager to teach and to be part of a collegiate
community.



I am one of those eager graduates--a published writer and editor who brings
to the classroom real-world business and writing experience gained prior to
and during graduate school.  I am an adjunct professor at UTC and cannot
survive on my salary (I made more as a teaching assistant at the University
of Florida than I do teaching a 4-class load at UTC). As a result, I will
have to leave this profession--one I adore--to look for work where I am paid
a decent fraction of what I'm worth. Another eager writer will come and
teach and leave, and then another. Each of us will spend much energy
developing lesson plans, curricula, and relationships with our colleagues
and students. These resources will leave with us. Is that smart business?



I do not see this environment as the nurturing and august milieu we
associate with university life-a milieu that proposes to support lifelong
scholarship. Are your colleagues and associates-we contingent faculty-as
expendable as fast-food burger flippers? It certainly feels that way. When
my students ask if I will be teaching next semester, I have to tell them I
don't know. I also tell them why.



It is inaccurate to compare the situation with contingent faculty prior to
1985 with the situation today. I feel the university has taken cynical
advantage of what was once a reasonable and effective system. As Dr. Martin
Luther King stated in his book STRIDE TOWARD FREEDOM: "To accept passively
an unjust system is to cooperate with that system: thereby the oppressed
become as evil as the oppressor.to accept injustice or segregation passively
is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right. It is a way
of allowing the conscience to fall asleep."



Best Regards,

Sharla Benedict

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr. James W. Hiestand" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] contingent faculty


        I'd like to respond to Prof. Efaw's message.

        Though some "contingent faculty" may be exploited, not all are.  I
was an adjunct engineering faculty member before returning to UTC full-time
in 1985.  While an adjunct I had a full-time job in industry and made more
(adjusted for inflation) than I do now at UTC.  I taught because I enjoyed
teaching and wanted to keep my foot in the door here.  Other professionals
in our community employed full-time or retired also teach because they like
teaching.  I think it may be an encouragement to our students to be taught
by such faculty.

        I also object to his characterization of the new Simulation Center
and associated PhD program as "sexy" or "exotic."  This is a quality program
with top-flight practitioners and brings prestige to UTC.  We are fortunate
to have this program.  Its presence does not detract from undergraduate
teaching nor affect the salaries of those who teach undergraduates.

        James W. Hiestand