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[boolos]

I've enjoyed the other lengthy thread about equality from those on both sides of the TT situation.  I'm interested in what these crossover people think about the following.

How much per class would it take for you to switch to being an adjunct again, without the low teaching loads, research time, committee work, office hours, advising, etc.

Basically I'm asking, for example, if you would take X amount of dollars per course to be an adjunct again, what would that amount be?  Please answer that question, and then comment on whether you think this gives us an indication of what the miscellaneous factors are worth in a TT position over an adjunct one.

Thanks
Boolos

[august_leo]

Personally, I would never want to be an adjunct. It's just not for me. I am foremost a researcher and want my own lab. I would look in the private sector before I'd consider adjuncting. (That's just my preference though.)

[boolos]

I understand where you're coming from.

For those who would be willing to consider BOTH, though, what would it take?

For the TT, with all of its hastles beyond teaching, how much would it take to just be an adjunct with a significant pay per course dollar amount?

Example:

TT with 3-3 load, research, committees, etc. at $60k
Adjunct with no duties beyond teaching, but no benefits, security, etc.  Would you take an adjunct course load of 5-5 at $6k per course, or would the dollar amount have to be higher to give up the TT package?

[yellowtractor]

Boolos, I've thought quite a bit about this, especially since I continued with my research and writing agenda while I was employed as a non-academic.  Working as a full-time tenure-track academic has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages--in terms of lifestyle--as everybody here knows.

For me, what a t.t. position offered over part-time work was (a) steady work and (b) health insurance.  Salary would come in third.  I was fortunate that when I taught part-time I did have some health insurance coverage from my school--a very enlightened institution!--but I had no control from term to term over whether I would have any work at all.  I found this financially intolerable, terrifying in terms of health insurance, and, in the end, psychologically untenable.

For me, the main benefit of adjuncting was having more control over just how much work I was taking on during a given term--but again, that only mattered if there was in fact work in the offing.  I also worked as an editorial freelancer during these years, and the situation was similar:  I enjoyed the flexibility, but in the end lack of health insurance and anxiety over where my next job would be coming from did me in.

I would not take a 5-5 schedule for any amount of money in the world, because my time--for myself, as a writer and researcher, and for the people I love--is more important to me than my salary.  My t.t. job does require a considerable time commitment, but a 5-5 in my field (pedagogically labor-intensive), even without committee work etc., would cause my quality of life to plummet.  I would seek a more reasonable workload in the private sector, even if the pay was lower and I was sacrificing my academic connections, before I would do this.

Does this help at all?

[larryc]

$10k per course, with control over my schedule, in a small town in the mountain west.  Which is so not happening.

[yellowtractor]

$10k per course, with control over my schedule, in a small town in the mountain west.

And a pony.

[minidonut]

And a pony

...on which Daniel Craig rides every night, Godiva-style, to my bedroom, in order to tuck me in.

[yellowtractor]

OP, are you still with us, or did we scare you away?

[dr_dre]

...on which Daniel Craig rides every night, Godiva-style, to my bedroom, in order to tuck me in.

I need to get out more. I pictured Larry Craig and couldn't understand why anyone would want that.

[minidonut]

I need to get out more. I pictured Larry Craig and couldn't understand why anyone would want that.

DANIEL Craig.  "Larry Craig" sounds frighteningly close to "Larry King" - and THAT coming on a pony to my bedroom every night would be horrifying.

[untenured]

$20K per course, maybe.  Even that might not be enough.

Adjuncting stinks.  Full-time teaching is cool.

Untenured

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

For 10K a course, I'd happily accept paying for my health care, teach 4 courses a year, and revel in being employed part-time without any overwhelming sense of commitment to my employer. I have commitment issues, so that aspect of adjuncting holds strange appeal for me.

I, for one, am convinced that the rhetoric of the adjunct problem will shift tremendously once we get universal health care (staying optimistic), but perhaps that is another thread.

[boolos]

The $10k amounts or so are what I thought people would say.  I think those who are aware of the value in their benefits & security realize that if they didn't have those features, the pay per course should be quite high.

I thought of rephrasing this in a thought experiment.  It reminds me of how some parents leave behind their assets to two children with explicit instructions that one child divide the non-sentimental assets into two categories, and the other child chooses which category s/he wants.  Not knowing which one a person will receive, there is the incentive to do it justly/fairly.

Likewise... suppose your job was about to go under review and it would either be as it currently is, or it would become a "full time" adjunct position.  You don't get to choose.  A coin will be tossed to see if you get your current TT situation or if it gets converted to the adjunct position.  How would you set up the adjunct position in terms of pay per course for it to be an even or fair alternative to your current position?  How good would it have to be for you to honestly not care about the results of the coin toss, because either way you would see them as equitable?