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‘A’ New Adjunct Movement

September 21, 2011, 9:47 am

By Isaac Sweeney

If you see a red “A” on a colleague’s door, it probably doesn’t mean “Adultery.” The “A” is for “Adjunct.”

I first heard of this movement from Katherine Burke, a part-time instructor in the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University, who posted the idea on the Con Job: Stories of Adjunct and Contingent Faculty Facebook page. She didn’t come up with the idea originally, she says, but she is committed to raising awareness, especially among students. You can see a photo of Burke’s “A” at her blog.

A red “A” signifies that you are an adjunct, some other contingent faculty member, or that you sympathize with contingent faculty members. The idea is to signify some level of unification and to spread awareness. Imagine if a student sees more and more red letters on faculty doors. The student may even see a room full of letters, or letters mysteriously attached to hallway desks (because there is no office or door). Eventually, a student is going to ask someone what it means.

When I’ve talked to students about the working conditions of many contingent faculty members and the pennies they are paid, the students seem appalled. Many students just aren’t aware of the contingent situations some of their instructors are in. This is important because students are, supposedly, the ones with the real power in academe. They are typically energetic and willing to advocate for change when they feel passionately about something, and some of them sit in high places on campuses across the country.

The trick to this, though, is that people have to be willing to answer questions when students or colleagues ask about the red “A”. Contingent faculty members have to be willing to stand up, to take that first plunge, to put that “A” where it can be seen. And supporters who aren’t contingent faculty have to be willing to put themselves out there as well. In the past, staff and faculty –- contingent or not -– have been afraid to stand up against the overuse of contingent labor in higher education. But maybe this simple symbol can alleviate some of that fear.

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  • geoz32

    I’m going to need some evidence on the drinking allegation.

  • gazelle14

    Thos. Jefferson was a widower, not a married man, when he purportedly fathered at least one child by Sally Hemings.  And, given the high likelihood of slave owners  having sex with their female slaves, it is *possible* that Sally, who came with Ms. Jefferson from her father’s home at the time of her marriage, was her half sister.  I recall some statements to the effect that they resembled each other.  That lends a poignancy to the affair.
    The furor over sex is typical of the morality of our times, when any way of attacking someone in politics is pounced upon, and “the good oft interred with” his reputation. How else would Jeffersonian DNA find its way into the slave line, if only one man was accused of having one woman as a concubine? Common sense, folks.  But does it undo his genius? No, it means he probably slept with his wife’s half sister in his loneliness after her death.  He may have loved her. Lighten up.

  • pflady

    All the DNA studies proved was that “a Jefferson” fathered the Hemmings children.  Unfortunately, the Nature editor who wrote the editorial comment on the article was no history scholar  - he had no idea that Jefferson had a brother who spent a good deal of time at Monticello.  Thomas Jefferson may or may not have been the father of Sally Hemmings’ children – what has been presented thus far is NOT proof.   As a scientist, it really rubs me the wrong way when broad conclusions are based upon insufficient evidence – and I think the Monticello staff should learn a little about the science upon which their (sloppy) statements are based.  Once definitive evidence is produced, I have no problem with stating Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slave.  However, that has yet to be produced.

  • cwm4c

    Chuck, it seems you cannot ever resist posting to Peter’s blog.  Please do us all a favor and change your auto notification of peter’s postings to your own auto post of “I hate Peter.”  That would be much shorter to post, achieve the same thing, and save the rest of us the trouble and time time of reading your anti-Peter babble. 

  • goxewu

    “No definite evidence” from pflady = no absolute DNA evidence, and no confession from Thomas Jefferson. Murderers have been rightly convicted with less.

    Connect. the. dots.

    And talk about grasping at straws: Citing Peter–”Can I have a Jefferson, any male Jefferson, even ol’ Dad, who was around at the time?” And for sheer desperation:  “Perhaps the Monticello staff just saw this as an opportunity for renewed interest and increased visitation of Monticello from a new segment of
    the population.” Right. And the FBI Museum will have photos of J. Edgar cross-dressing in order to attract “a new segment of the population.”

    Wonder what dog pflady has in this fight?

  • anotheranonymousgirl

    This is a great idea in theory — in practice, it seems to assume that we each have a door to call our own, which for most adjuncts in not the case.

  • nfmorg

    Note that at NFM we’ve designed “Scarlet A” T-shirts for those adjuncts that don’t have offices on which to post their As! All proceeds support NFM’s advocacy efforts: http://skreened.com/newfacultymajority

  • doolittle222

    This would be especially effective over parents’ weekend. I remember a student coming to our shared office, standing in the door of the entire mess of papers, books, dust, the porthole window and clanking radiator, looking shocked and simply asking, “What happened?” My officemate answered, “Bad job market.” There are many factors that lead to this situation, and perhaps we shouldn’t paint ourselves as victims, but at the same time, a symbol for solidarity and consciousness-raising seems like a good idea.

  • http://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com Richard Grayson

    I think students (and for traditional-age students, their parents) should at least be aware of the situation.  I don’t make a big deal or an announcement, but if a student asks me why I am not available after class, for example, I explain that I have to run to another college where I teach a class about an hour after her class ends, and then I casually mention that my schedule this semester is teaching seven classes at four colleges six days a week.  I also say that is why I give out my home telephone number to all my students on our syllabus, so that they can contact me when I am somewhere else.

    I am very happy to be an adjunct — otherwise I would just stop doing it — but I wish I had known, when I was in my first semester of college 42 years ago, that all of my own teachers were not full-time professors but adjuncts.  (I figured that out only years later.)

  • materialculture

    I’d be willing to wear a scarlet “A” pendant, tie tack, lapel pin, hatband pin or what have you – as long as the typeface is one that becomes recognizably associated with this movement. I don’t wear t-shirts in my professional life.

  • unemployedacademic

    Adjuncts are victims, just not special victims.  Displaying a red A can help to make the conditions under which adjuncts teach — conditions which mirror those being imposed on the rest of the US — more visible.  Such visibility can then help undercut the message that academics are ivory-tower elitists used by plutocrats to attack academic critiques of their values.  The message can be one of solidarity.

  • wilkenslibrary

    I have a door…to an office that I share with sixteen others.  Maybe I’ll e-mail them all, and if they agree, I’ll make us all a big red A! Campus Equity Week is coming up–Oct. 24-28.

    Betsy Smith/Adjunct Professor of ESL/Cape Cod Community College

  • dpmccain

    As some have posted, most students are unaware of adjunct instructors.  They have a sense that we are all full-time, have lengthy prep periods, TAs to grade papers, and campus housing, or that we teach just for “fun”.  I had a little chat with my students the other day, and they were  much more receptive to my moments of fatigue knowing that I teach at two campuses, for next to nothing, like so many others. 

    I do have a feeling, though, that the A would earn me a finger pointing to the exit door. I cannot afford to be a champion right now.  I was a union rep in the public school environment…now that will age anyone.

  • taraw

    “Displaying a red A can help to make the conditions under which adjuncts teach — conditions which mirror those being imposed on the rest of the US — more visible.”

    Very good point here — While the employment conditions for adjuncts are not ideal, it’s important to remember that others in the US (and across the globe) are subject to similar conditions.  Lack of job security, unimpressive work space, low wages and limited room for upward mobility seem to be trends in many fields these days, not just in academia.  Students at our university are often shocked when they see our work space because it is not a reflection of the prestige of the university, but it’s difficult to tell a student whose parents are in a similar employment position that you’d like to hike their fees so that you can be more comfortable in your own job.

    Don’t get me wrong — I’m writing this from a desk in a work space made for two people but shared with seven others …

  • dpmccain

    I shall reply to my own post.  I was shown the door today (well, by voicemail).  So much for even the spiritual A.   
     

  • http://twitter.com/IsaacSweeney IsaacSweeney

    I’m so sorry, dpmccain.

  • utchron9

    In principle this seems wonderful.  In practice I cannot help but think a big red
    “A” really says “Please don’t renew my teaching contract next semester.” 

    :(

  • http://twitter.com/IsaacSweeney IsaacSweeney

    As noted in the post, the trick is that contingent faculty members have to be willing to put the ‘A’ on/up.

  • dpmccain

    Thank you.  I am still reeling, and continue to keyword my “work” email out of habit. Sheesh..here we go…

  • polisciguy

    While adjuncts may have offices at the University level, at my CC, I have two mailboxes (physical and electronic), a shared computer lab and access to a copier. My “office” is in the student center and my grading is done at home. This situation seems perfectly fine to me, but that may be because I see my P/T position as a short-term one aimed at securing a F/T position or departing the field. I get the privilege of teaching college students about a topic I love and the staff whom I have met are quite gracious to me. 

    I understand the need to vent frustration and, to be sure, and I do enough of that myself, but I have a family member out of work and one who recently went through a significant health scare. In the grade scheme of things, I would rather save my energy to be angry about other matters.

  • Guest

    I am hanging a big red A on my office door. Contingent labor needs people to rally behind them.

  • eudaimon

    To engage in free speech you have to have tenure. Adjuncts don’t have tenure or any of its protections or privileges. They should be very careful, lest the University or College send its thugs, viz., the tenured faculty, to break up their symbolic action.

  • dpmccain

    Isaac:

    I didn’t get a chance to experience all 5 stages of grief.  I made it to anger, then was offered a part-time position as a Senior Technical Researcher.  Working at home, excellent company, more money than I made as an adjunct instructor. 

    Thank you for your kind words of support.  I am sure the gods of the unjustly terminated were listening. 

  • maricueta

    Adjuncts where I  teach don’t even have an office– shared or other.  We have to make our own arrangements as to where we meet with students.

  • drj50

    I’d be a lot happier with the summary of the U21 ranking system if “ability of system to produce an educated workforce which meets labor market needs” had read “produce” people of character, a well-informed and thoughtful citizenry, AND “an educated workforce.” I am not one of those who decry “careerist” educational objectives, but I agree with them that education should be about more than that. Just look at the original mission statements of early land-grant and teachers colleges — vocational training if there ever was any — that not only sought to prepare people for jobs, but also develop character and engaged citizens. Societies, democracies, and the marketplace (see almost daily headlines from business debacles) will fail without character and civic engagement as surely as they will without workers.

  • andrewlea14

    my roomate’s step-sister makes $76 an hur on the computer. She has been out of a job for 7 months but last month her pay was $18384 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this site ⇛⇛⇛⇛► http://Makecash11.blogspot.com

  • janebuck

    The spell checker should have caught the “eggregious” error, though.

  • 22108469

    Anyone who has written/typed a lot of copy knows what the most dangerous words are. “Public” is definitely a dangerous one, especially because of its frequent appearance in the names of well-known institutions.

  • 11261884

    Reminds me of a newspaper corrigendum (perhaps apocryphal) I read about that ran in a newspaper years ago, something like this:
    In yesterday’s edition we mistakenly identified John Smith as a defective on the city’s police force. It should have read that he is a detective on the police farce. We regret the error. 

  • observer1951

    The error did not originate with the printer. No way — another error on the part of the University. Printers rarely read what they’re printing, and materials are never sent to the printer with the expectation that the printer will generate any of the text.  Grant the impossible and the final responsibility still rests with the University — not the printer.  

    It’s a transparent case of passing the buck.  They should have recalled The First Law of Holes:  When you find yourself in one, stop digging.  

  • studentteacher

    Have received more than one cover letter for internships where autocorrect changed the misspelling of definitely to defiantly: “I defiantly have the skills for the job.”  I kind of like it ;)

    My favorite is the resume where the degree was “English Ligature.”  Still not QUITE sure if that was a typo or autocorrect or good old Freudian slip for English Literature…

  • 22122118

    The “First Law of Holes”? Please. In this context?

    In fact, I loved it.

  • thewhirlpool

    I don’t think that was a slip. LBJ was big into pubics. I read it on the internet. originally his last two initials were GJ for Lyndon George Johnson. But, he changed his middle name to Baines just so he could have BJ in his name. He was quite the tramp. 

  • 11274135

    This error is so common that it almost has to be missed on purpose. My personal favorite currently is deficate spending.

  • dank48

    Hear, hear. Anyone who has anything printed without proofreading the copy first is responsible. Blaming the printer is even more pathetic than relying on a spell checker.

    Beverly Sills’s autobiography Bubbles had the same typo, in the first sentence on the first page, years before spell checkers. 

  • pflady

    I remember a typo in my hometown newspaper that went the other way, yet perhaps had more than a bit of truth to it.   A dancer in a local strip club was arrested for lowering her G-string and exposing her “public” area.

  • Socratease2

    I can’t wait until the 2012 presidential  erection is over, it just seems to go on and on.

  • drquiles

    Thanks for the chuckles! Auto correct/ spell check would NOT catch the error because pubic IS a word. It is the proofreader’s job to pick up the error regarding word choice and let’s lighten up because everyone makes a mistake… Have laugh and let’s move on:-)

  • 22277599

     Delaying moving on for a moment, I always have to be careful of typing “curse” for “course” and “faulty” for “faculty.”  Perhaps, at times, it is a curse, rather than a course, and the instructor is faulty.

  • 11331315

    Our college catalog came out several years ago with the college’s name misspelled on the cover. The budget could not afford a rerun, so it was distributed anyway. Not a lot of people noticed.

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