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Author Topic: Unfairness at University  (Read 11672 times)
ucprof
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« Reply #30 on: January 05, 2012, 12:24:21 AM »

I think a university has to have a certain number of colleges and/or schools (perhaps >1.)  I don't disagree that students from any sort of educational institution should be able to get into doctoral programs.  But when we began calling non-PhD granting places universities, I think we began to mislead people.  Most UCs, of course, don't have many "just masters" programs (unless they are professional programs.)  The CSUs have "only masters" programs, and I believe that, in general they fail to attract the students the bigger (or doctoral granting) UCs can. 

Actually in my STEM dept at the UC we don't have much of a masters program and we encourage some good but underprepared undergraduates to consider going to one of the CSUs to get a masters before applying to our PhD program.  I have several students in that category who went to CSU or similar for masters prior to PhD.  There is a strong financial reason to go to a strong CSU masters program -it is much less expensive than a private school and some of them will give the right training between undergrad and PhD program.  Also some of the very strong CSU undergraduates will want to stay for a masters because they will compete more strongly with UC undergraduates for the PhD slots in the UC.  However we also find that not all CSU masters programs are equal. 
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polly_mer
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« Reply #31 on: January 05, 2012, 07:53:47 AM »

I think a university has to have a certain number of colleges and/or schools (perhaps >1.)  

Guess I got my doctorate from a non-university then unless you are willing to change that number to 1.  The institution had multiple parts (about twenty academic departments and several associated research entities), but the academic part was identified as the university and that part had departments directly under the academic dean who was directly under the president.  We didn't have several colleges or schools.

Also,
Chime to talking to your union rep.  If you are a long-term adjunct, you should have a multi-year contract OR a union "entitlement" to be offered the same number of courses as you have taught in the past, absent certain compelling reasons.  

This has not been true at any of the places where I worked or at places where similar stories made the newspapers.  Check with your union rep and ask especially if the "certain compelling reasons" can include things like need to train graduate students.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2012, 07:54:27 AM by polly_mer » Logged

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oldfullprof
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« Reply #32 on: January 05, 2012, 08:27:16 AM »

This has not been true at any of the places where I worked or at places where similar stories made the newspapers.  Check with your union rep and ask especially if the "certain compelling reasons" can include things like need to train graduate students.

The graduate student is fairly unlikely to be a grad student of that particular institution.  Therefore he or she is likely to be just another adjunct. (As far as the hiring institution is concerned.)  This means that union contract rights may have been violated for OP.  If the chair offered a current on-campus grad student four sections, this may indicate a situation that requires scrutiny, because this number is far too many for a currently matriculated student. 
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polly_mer
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« Reply #33 on: January 05, 2012, 09:52:34 AM »

This has not been true at any of the places where I worked or at places where similar stories made the newspapers.  Check with your union rep and ask especially if the "certain compelling reasons" can include things like need to train graduate students.

The graduate student is fairly unlikely to be a grad student of that particular institution.  Therefore he or she is likely to be just another adjunct. (As far as the hiring institution is concerned.)  This means that union contract rights may have been violated for OP.  If the chair offered a current on-campus grad student four sections, this may indicate a situation that requires scrutiny, because this number is far too many for a currently matriculated student. 

OK.  However, I'm sticking by the advice that one must know
a) whether this particular CBA deals with special privileges for a long-time adjunct
b) what the "certain compelling reasons" are if special privileges are part of the deal

before deciding if this case meets them or not.  Longevity alone is not necessarily an indication of anything for an adjunct, especially if performance has changed or someone objectively better comes along.  Agreements with other entities may result in an ABD who is finishing that last year getting a full teaching load while finishing.  I don't know how common that is in California, but, in places I've been, agreements with other institutions for all kinds of things so that visitors can get experiences are prevalent.
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If you haven't got either the anatomical or metaphorical balls to post your own question on a pseudonymous internet forum, then academia is the wrong job for you.
seniorscholar
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« Reply #34 on: January 05, 2012, 10:19:01 AM »

Agreements with other entities may result in an ABD who is finishing that last year getting a full teaching load while finishing. 

Until quite recently, we had a longstanding agreement with state flagships in two neighboring states to mutually give each other's appropriate ABD's a 3-year "Visiting Instructor" slot while those folks finished their dissertations.
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spinnaker
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« Reply #35 on: January 05, 2012, 10:20:27 AM »

This has not been true at any of the places where I worked or at places where similar stories made the newspapers.  Check with your union rep and ask especially if the "certain compelling reasons" can include things like need to train graduate students.

The graduate student is fairly unlikely to be a grad student of that particular institution.  Therefore he or she is likely to be just another adjunct. (As far as the hiring institution is concerned.)  This means that union contract rights may have been violated for OP.  If the chair offered a current on-campus grad student four sections, this may indicate a situation that requires scrutiny, because this number is far too many for a currently matriculated student. 

OK.  However, I'm sticking by the advice that one must know
a) whether this particular CBA deals with special privileges for a long-time adjunct
b) what the "certain compelling reasons" are if special privileges are part of the deal

before deciding if this case meets them or not.  Longevity alone is not necessarily an indication of anything for an adjunct, especially if performance has changed or someone objectively better comes along.  Agreements with other entities may result in an ABD who is finishing that last year getting a full teaching load while finishing.  I don't know how common that is in California, but, in places I've been, agreements with other institutions for all kinds of things so that visitors can get experiences are prevalent.

If performance has improved, longevity is likely to be a factor.
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alleyoxenfree
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« Reply #36 on: January 05, 2012, 10:56:20 AM »

This has not been true at any of the places where I worked or at places where similar stories made the newspapers.  Check with your union rep and ask especially if the "certain compelling reasons" can include things like need to train graduate students.

The graduate student is fairly unlikely to be a grad student of that particular institution.  Therefore he or she is likely to be just another adjunct. (As far as the hiring institution is concerned.)  This means that union contract rights may have been violated for OP.  If the chair offered a current on-campus grad student four sections, this may indicate a situation that requires scrutiny, because this number is far too many for a currently matriculated student.  

Exactly.  And since those reading from the start know the institutional system in question here, it really doesn't matter how it works elsewhere.   Particular systems work in particular ways, and have particular deals with their unions, which may or may not cover all faculty whether they belong or not.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2012, 10:57:18 AM by alleyoxenfree » Logged
tinyzombie
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« Reply #37 on: January 05, 2012, 11:12:15 AM »

How the hell is this thread still here? (A better question: where the hell is the OP?)
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Correct, as usual, TZ.
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spinnaker
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« Reply #38 on: January 05, 2012, 11:42:09 AM »

Probably wisely staying away as advised. Or OP is an imposter.
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tinyzombie
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elevate from this point on - chuck d


« Reply #39 on: January 05, 2012, 11:44:44 AM »

Probably wisely staying away as advised. Or OP is an imposter.

Sigh. OP was advised to have the mods delete the thread.
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Quote from: _god_
Correct, as usual, TZ.
Quote from: cc_alan
That's because you are not Dude. TZ, however, is Dude.
Quote from: hipgeek
TZ is my favorite.
Quote from: anthroid
I wish YOU began with A.
spinnaker
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I don't deserve these self-entitled students.


« Reply #40 on: January 05, 2012, 12:01:18 PM »

They choose to edit instead of delete, looks like.
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dr_alcott
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« Reply #41 on: January 05, 2012, 02:02:09 PM »

They choose to edit instead of delete, looks like.

Looks as though the Mods deleted the identifying information from the original post, but his moniker still contains his name.
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tinyzombie
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elevate from this point on - chuck d


« Reply #42 on: January 05, 2012, 02:05:20 PM »

They choose to edit instead of delete, looks like.

Looks as though the Mods deleted the identifying information from the original post, but his moniker still contains his name.

Also, if you Google just so, using his real name, you land here.
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Quote from: _god_
Correct, as usual, TZ.
Quote from: cc_alan
That's because you are not Dude. TZ, however, is Dude.
Quote from: hipgeek
TZ is my favorite.
Quote from: anthroid
I wish YOU began with A.
wet_blanket
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« Reply #43 on: January 05, 2012, 02:18:41 PM »

They choose to edit instead of delete, looks like.

Looks as though the Mods deleted the identifying information from the original post, but his moniker still contains his name.

Also, if you Google just so, using his real name, you land here.

If you google without the middle initial, you find another professor.
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aprilmay
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« Reply #44 on: January 05, 2012, 02:44:55 PM »

Adjuncts are not guaranteed teaching positions for all eternity. This is part of the problem with the adjunct system. You may find it unfair that you have fewer courses, but others will complain that it is unfair that they never get a chance. I am not saying that what happened to you was fair because I do not know the situation, but it is not convincing to argue that you should get courses because you have had them before. If this violates your contract, you have some options to fight this. Otherwise, you need to find out why another teacher is preferred. Long-term adjunct is still adjunct, unfortunately.
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