UVSC adjuncts in decline as school hires more full-time faculty

You may remember that The Pipeline reported last month that UVSC adjunct army was getting a slight bump in pay. Over the weekend an article in the Daily Herald looked closer at that pay raise and the declining percentage of adjuncts teaching classes.


UVSC adjunct professors face unsure future (Daily Herald, April 20 2008)

There were a few interesting nuggets in the article, the first being that the school's adjunct faculty organization was disbanded earlier this year over fears that it was acting as a union. God forbid (and so does state law) that these poor folks rally around a common cause like getting paid a living wage. With the pay raise, adjuncts will be making a whopping $1750 per three-credit class taught. If the average adjunct teaches between two and three classes per semester that figures to a bimonthly paycheck of just over $600. No adjunct can teach more than 4 classes a semester. Try scraping out a living on that while paying back grad school loans. Also remember that adjuncts receive no benefits. They would probably be better off managing a Burger King.

But The Pipeline's favorite quote came from adjunct accounting prof (and deposed leader of the now-defunct adjunct "union") Gary Petersen who said, "Most adjuncts won't even know that they've had a raise. Their six or seven paychecks through a semester may go up $10 each. It's a great gesture from the college and all the adjuncts appreciate it. It's just 5 percent of a very small amount -- it doesn't amount to very much."

In other words, even the guy who used to fight for adjunct rights is so used to being pushed around by the school that when a few extra crumbs fall from the table all he can say is "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Adjuncts keep the academic gene pool fresh and diverse, usually bringing real-world experience and the latest trends in their disciplines. As the school diminishes their role there should exist a stringent hiring process that weeds out the slackers and rewards the productive. Adjuncts should make a wage that is competitive to what a professional of their caliber makes in their respective industries.

Adjuncts to get slight pay raise

Hey UVSC adjuncts...what are you gonna do with your extra $98!

Adjunct instructors get a pay raise
(Salt Lake Tribune, March 25 2008)

In the past UVSC has relied heavily on adjunct instructors. The school now hopes to reduce the total number of classes taught by adjuncts to less than 50 percent.

Today On Campus: Thursday • 11/8/07

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES PRESENTS: "LANGUAGE STUDY AND BUSINESS"
12:00pm - 1:00pm
SC 206a
Free


PEACE AND JUSTICE STUDIES PRESENTS: "REFLECTIONS ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN RELATIONS"
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
SC 206C
For more info click here

ADJUNCT FACULTY FORUM
6:00pm - 8:00pm
LC 243
Free
Preregister here

CONTEMPORARY DANCE ENSEMBLE PRESENTS: "IMPRINTS"
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Ragan Theatre
$9 with UV ID, $11 GA

ART FOR LIFE EXHIBITION AND AUCTION
11:00am - 7:00pm
Woodbury Art Museum, 2nd Floor University Mall
Free
http://www.uvsc.edu/museum

Each weekday during the fall and spring semesters The Pipeline publishes "Today on Campus" which outlines events at UVSC. To notify us of an event send details to uvscpipeline@gmail.com

Sederburg talks about transition, hands out sandwiches

UVSC President Bill Sederburg, master of the PowerPoint, invited the campus community to break bread and have a good ol' rap session about the school's impending move to university status. For the past few years Big Bill has used "Sandwiches with Sederburg" as a way of presenting his expectations for the following year.

And it seems next year's theme will be hiring. Sederburg laid out his plan for the new influx of cash that came with SB 70, and it looks like the biggest chunk will go to hiring 90 new employees, about 40 of which will be new full-time faculty.

Sederburg said one of the school's weaknesses when it comes to assessment has always been its dependence on adjunct faculty. He anticipates that these new hires will help those full-time to adjunct ratios and possibly reduce teaching loads across the board.

Sederburg also committed to keeping enrollment open and promised that the school "will not move away from its roots" as the transition to university is made. One must assume he was talking about the often maligned trades program that the school was original built on. The official talking points from the school have always been that trades will be around and that UVU would "continue to work with Mountainlands Apllied Technology Center" to make sure the program runs efficient.

In other words, the trades program will probably move piece by piece to MATC as UVSC matures into UVU. Particularly as Sederburg tries to reduce the dependence on adjunct faculty and tries to increase the number of faculty members with terminal degrees.

The administration may say they are committed to trades, but The Pipeline thinks that in 5 years trades will be reduced to only the most technical degrees. There is a reason some staff call it "Baloney with Bill" instead of "Sandwiches with Sederburg".