Charitianne Williams is a senior lecturer in the English department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is paid about $30,000 (about $4,000 more than a lecturer, for supervisory and committee duties) to teach three English-composition courses each semester during the academic year. Here is her estimate of the time she spends, per course, for that money:

Class time: 45 hours

Prep time: 90 hours (two hours of preparation for every hour of class)

Office hours: At least 48 (although only 32 are required)

E-mail: At least 32 hours

Grading: At least 110 hours (22 students whose assignments include five papers)

Copying and scanning: 16 hours (about an hour each week)

Program and department-type meetings: 5 hours

Putting together syllabus: 10 hours per class (sometimes less)

Total hours: About 356*

*Plus extra hours on: Students who may need extra attention, reading and studying in her discipline, experimenting with a new syllabus, or attending conferences. (Illinois at Chicago gives $200 to defray expenses if lecturers present work at conferences, but not if they only attend.)