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Indian Engineering School Offers ‘Self-Enrichment’ Course for Underprivileged Castes

June 30, 2011, 2:49 pm

The Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi has started to require its freshmen from the so-called lowest castes and classes to attend a seven-day “Self-Enrichment Program” to teach them communication skills and campus etiquette, reports The Times of India. Administrators at the elite engineering school say the special course will boost the confidence of the students, but some faculty members disagree. “To carve out a group on the basis of their origins and put them through a training program—I would term it nothing short of apartheid,” one professor said.

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  • 11272784

    A LOT of education occurs when people watch videos and listen to podcasts. Just because you’re not running a classroom where it takes place doesn’t mean there isn’t learning going on.

    Of course, the sum total of education is MORE than this – it’s an intersection of a number of stimuli and experiences, as well as directed work. But watching and listening is definitely part of it. And reading books (or e-books) is also a very important part of it. Yes, there’s more to it, but denying the obvious is a waste of time.

  • drzee

    I have a question: are you sincerely contributing to this discussion or are you simply trolling this thread? From your comments on this discussion, I honestly think that you are clueless to the actual adjunct working conditions. Please lets not speak from a place of ignorance when actual academic laborers are trying to improve our plight. Please why don’t you spew your uninformed opinions elsewhere.

  • drzee

    Oh, I understand now: you are a coward! Rather than trying to improve conditions for yourself and future academics, you simply left. Go hide and leave the work of reforming the academy to those who decided to care.

  • drzee

    “Bottom line: figure out what you are worth (in the market place, not what you feel is a good amount) and then make employment decisions accordingly. And, quit whining!”

    I understand that you are a “business analyst,” an amorphic, fabricated title if I ever heard one, but are you not aware of how unions actually begin? Allow me to give you a bit of a lesson: an exploited labor force gets together to express shared grievances about their working conditions in order to make a change.

  • alicekolakowska

    Dear Eliana,

    The slavery-like employment that is associated with adjunct teaching positions at US universities is a serious issue that touches upon violation of human rights and the rights stated in the Constitution. ‘Improving’ the conditions of adjunct employment by ‘patching’ the holes in the current system is not a solution that would improve university education system in a long run. Current situation calls for drastic changes.

    Adjunct teaching position as a teaching contract by course should be eliminated. All university teaching positions should be staffed by individuals who hold doctoral degrees or equivalent. These positions should be by annual contracts and carry a job title of either an assistant or an associate professor, depending on past contributions to university system, education, and scholarship.

    The compensation should be at an appropriate level, consistent with the established compensation level in the state system. These contracts should include a uniform benefit package, i.e., health insurance plan and retirement contribution, at minimum.

    Faculty in these positions should be expected to carry both teaching and scholarship duties, and contribute to the institution. They should have an opportunity to apply for extramural grants and to be nominated for teaching and other awards. They should have an opportunity to mentor undergraduate research or other creative projects.

    This latter condition is very important because it would allow a contract professor to build his resume, gradually becoming more competitive in securing a tenure-track professorship either at his current institution or somewhere else. In other words, these equal-opportunity conditions would stimulate professional growth of the individual as well as positive changes towards higher standards within departments.

    In this proposed arrangement, holding a limited-term contract could be a natural progression step in academic career. Such an arrangement would be also beneficial for the system by creating a healthy competition, increasing motivation, restoring respect for academic faculty, eliminating unnecessary tensions, and resulting in an overall greater satisfaction from work in academia. Tenured and tenure-track faculty ought to be supportive for such changes that ultimately would elevate their status.

    In the current situation, adjunct teaching position is a blind alley. It cannot get lower than that when a person with an advanced graduate degree, perhaps your former colleague at graduate school, earns an equivalent of a custodian living for a high-responsibility job that requires advanced knowledge and skills. What does it say about us? Who will respect us if we do not respect each other…

    Have a good and productive trip to Washington, and tell us soon all about it.

  • unlikely_academic

    I think this is fantastic. I just started on the job market but I’m clear about my goals and I won’t work for less than tenure-track for more than 2 years. Then I’m moving on. Academia is a noble job, primarily for those of us who are not represented in the faculty ranks, but my family comes first. I think the committee needs to address healthcare and living wages. If you go through the excruciating work of completing a PhD, you should be paid fairly for it, and you shouldn’t have to slave for 2-3 more years in a Post-doc to get that. It is a commonly known fact now that PhD programs are admitting more grad students than there are jobs becoming available for those people. mschedlb, you sound like a real pendejo(a) but you are right on one thing–if we’re not treated fairly we should leave (if we can). Not everyone has the conditions, luxury, or safety-net to just leave a salary–even if it is low.

  • yellow1

    I worked as an adjunct for many years before obtaining an FT teaching position at a two year college. I will say that electing the two year route probably helped my obtaining FT employment because the focus was on instruction. My adjunct experiences were with large 4 year publics, a small 4 year private, and a medium sized two year college. I taught 7 classes in a semester twice. I think I got the first FT job I did because the interview committee knew I could teach and they knew me.

    Sadly, I am not sure it’s the pay per class that is the solution to current adjunct problems (or would have fixed mine back then). I left a job to become an adjunct because I loved to teach. That job paid more than adjuct (or FT) instruction. I think whatever assistance we can provide those with a passion for higher ed should be given, but this discussion can’t just be about money. Again, I made more money before I decided to teach, FT or PT. 

    I’d rather see a focus on improving those issues outside of pay: 1. Better training (or actual training); 2. Better physical space on campuses; 3. Tuition assistance for adjuncts to continue their education; 4. Mentors and a real evaluation process to help with higher ed professionalization.

    I feel like I obtained the FT job in higher ed I eventually did because of my adjunct experiences. The contacts I made as an adjunct and the experience I earned through instruction, tutoring, working in Writing Centers, etc. far outweighed my corporate experiences when I was hired. We need to provide adjunts with those opportunities.

  • disillusioned_prof

    I wholeheartedly share all your sentiments about the disgraceful realities about university life, except for one:  the fact that we do NOT become tenured ensures that we will NOT “die as worthless old people who contributed nothing.”  Whatever else we do without tenure, at the very least we will not be benefiting from a system that ravages the lives of well-meaning, idealistic, incredibly hard-working, and thoroughly exploited adjuncts. 

    My hat off especially to those who courageously work to collectively improve the situation of adjuncts — I wish I had your tenacity.  I just couldn’t hack it any more and left, cowardly as that was, but I will do what I can to support you.

  • mschedlb

    I lectured as an adjunct for many years, but only at places where the compensation was worth my time. I’m actually a member of an adjunct faculty union because I do think it is important to speak as a single voice. However, I also think that continuing to work when the pay and conditions are poor just furthers the situation. As long as Universities can hire faculty at that pay they will continue to do so.

  • mschedlb

    I’m actually a founding member of an adjunct faculty union at a University, so I’m quite aware of how they start. While the Union made some progress in presenting a unified voice to the administration, there’s something to be said for simply walking away when the compensation is too low and one can get paid more elsewhere.

  • mschedlb

    Yes, I left — to work at another institution where they valued my expertise and were willing to compensate me at market value.

  • rrlinford

    I am an adjunct history professor at a private university and at a community college in northern Virginia. Low wages are of course the biggest problem; the private university doesn’t pay much more than the community college.  History as a subject is not valued, so experienced Ph.Ds are paid between $2400-2800/class. Adjuncts are not allowed to teach more than 4 classes a semester because this would put them into full time status and require the university to pay them accordingly. Colleges and universities should be required to publish their pay scales and the terms of adjunct teaching “contracts.”
    I have recently begun teaching online versions of the courses I teach in the classroom.  I was shocked to learn that wages for the online courses are pro-rated, so if student enrollment drops, so, too, do the wages. We are strongly encouraged by the online course administrators to keep abreast of the latest technologies by participating in their sponsored courses and training workshops, which sounds great until you learn that the courses are not only not free but carry hefty tuition charges (termed as “registration & other fees”). 
    Both my two kids are now in college–one at a state school–and I had naively hoped that at least that kid’s tuition could be waived since I am technically a state employee, but no such luck.  I have also experienced the frustration of interviewing for full time teaching positions at the college where I adjunct, only to learn that the jobs went to outsiders.
    I have one positive anecdote: I have a friend and mentor who is department chair at a university in the west who pays adjuncts roughly the same hourly rate that a full time assistant professor with a Ph.D., published articles/books, and several years’ experience teaching is paid. So– if an ass’t professor makes $60,000/year for teaching 4 classes fall and winter semesters and 2 classes in the summer, for a total of 10 classes, then the adjunct is paid nearly $6,000 per class. [I realize this doesn't take into account the number of hours the assistant professor is required to work as an advisor or member of a faculty committee, but you get the point. No consideration is made for the amount of time and money and anxiety incurred by the adjunct who is constantly interviewing for new positions--because there is never a guarantee that you'll be hired from one semester to the next--nor the transportation costs of schlepping from one college gig to another 50 miles away.]
    Then adjuncts are looked down on for their inability to get a “real” job, making them/us look incompetent as well as pathetic for “taking it.”  No adjunct wants to be underpaid or undervalued; adjuncts–like others–are just trying to do the best they can under the circumstances, personal and global. 

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