The scret life of a Adjunct Professor

I don't know if it's that the fact you get what you pay for is lacking in
peoples thinking. The push for more part time workers, usually pushes
a part time business, being the workers won't care being they are in lack,
more like unsupported and with a view of why should I work hard if I
have to be on food stamps. If they can't pay for my living with my paycheck
why do I work like I'm living, I need to work like a zombie!

That is the reality out there in the labor force.
Wages are going up, but not with inflation, so you get a drop, as
many put the "People that work don't know fishing." bumper sticker
on their car and cut all their bills, stop consuming to match their income,
to make a better life with less stress. I never needed it anyway!

Having, and living with two part time jobs is not worth it these days!
It's like a dog chasing it's tail, always coming back to where it started!
The light bulb comes on and you learn it's not about the pursuit of
un-happiness!

So the part time worker issues also push to all part timers,
Adjunct Professors!

~~~~~The Cost of an Adjunct
Adjunct professors earn a median of $2,700 for a semester-long class, according to a
survey of thousands of part-time faculty members. In 2013, NPR reported that the average
annual pay for adjuncts is between $20,000 and $25,000, while a March 2015 survey
conducted by Pacific Standard among nearly 500 adjuncts found that a majority earn less
than $20,000 per year from teaching. Some live on less than that and supplement their
income with public assistance: A recent report from UC Berkeley found that nearly a
quarter of all adjunct professors receive public assistance, such as Medicaid or
food stamps. Indeed, many adjuncts earn less than the federal minimum wage.
Unless they work 30 hours or more at one college, they’re not eligible for health insurance
from that employer, and like other part-time employees, they do not qualify for other
benefits.

Over the years, the number of tenured professors has dropped while that of adjunct
professors has risen, as colleges attempt to rein in costs. Public colleges in particular rely
on adjuncts.

Much of these issues have been widely reported on, but what’s often missing from
coverage is the impact that this shift is having on students.

Adjuncts readily admit they cannot support students outside the classroom, such as
when students need extra help understanding an assignment, general college advisement,
or a letter of recommendation for a graduate program. And even if they had the time to
provide these services, many colleges don’t provide their adjuncts with office space,
so they meet with their pupils in coffee shops or at library desks.
Olson for her part said that in the past she’s had to meet with students by the trunk of
her car, where she kept all her books and papers as she commuted between different
college campuses. Without formal meeting spaces, students may find it difficult to locate
their professors when they need assistance on their classwork.

Meeting space aside, adjuncts often report that they simply cannot answer common
questions from the students about the requirements for the major, course sequencing,
or related classes at the college; to get this information, students instead have to track
down tenured faculty on campus. Same with letters of recommendation for admission to
graduate programs or post-college jobs: Some adjunct professors may not be willing to
write them because they aren’t paid for the time, or students may find it difficult to locate
former teachers who are no longer employed at that college. Even if they are willing,
colleges might not provide adjuncts with institutional letterhead for the recommendations.

Students may not be aware of these behind-the-scenes discrepancies.
College brochures and course registration websites don’t distinguish between
their adjunct and tenured faculty, and popular college guides and rankings fail to provide
adjunct data for specific schools. Olson said, “students don’t know the difference.
They think if you teach college, then you’re a professor. They think we make a $100,000 per
year.” Maisto echoed Olson’s concerns, arguing that parents are focused on
“cost and prestige” and aren’t as focused on quality.

Some adjuncts are determined to make this information more transparent with
public rallies, crowd sourced data, and walkouts. Both Olson and Maisto also urged that it’s
up to students and their parents, too, to include the status of adjuncts in their criteria when
shopping for colleges.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/the-cost-of-an-adjunct/394091

~~~~~Adjunct professor: This is why part-time professors are walking out today
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/02/25/adjunct-professor-this-is-why-part-time-professors-are-walking-out-today