For students, tuition is the same regardless of whether the instructor is full-time or part-time. But adjunct professors often don’t have the same institutional supports — private offices, continued training, paid class preparation time or the right to unionize — that full-timers do.
“One thing people should realize is a teachers’ working conditions are, in fact, the students’ learning conditions,” said Matt Williams, vice president of an Akron-based, national advocacy group for part-time professors called the New Faculty Majority.
To make a living, adjuncts often cobble together careers teaching large course loads at multiple schools where they have limited institutional support and no benefits. Colleges pay as little as $945 to teach a three-credit-hour class, meaning part-timers with a full-time course load often earn less than $20,000 a year.
“The reality is, you try not to teach in relation to what you are getting paid,” said John Boucuvalas, who at one time taught at as many as four schools at once to make ends meet. “As a teacher you don’t want to shortchange the students.”
College officials say part-time instructors often bring valuable professional experiences to the classroom.
“I’d have to agree,” said Liz Atchley, a Troy dental hygienist who teaches at Sinclair Community College. “I think the biggest advantage we have is that we are out in the real world.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2342 or cmagan@DaytonDaily
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