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Wanted: Decent Raises and Smaller Classes

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By Lewis Harper

Let me start by saying that I am one of the lucky ones. Although I work in one of the most crowded areas of American history, I have a job at a regional teaching university, and I am only a couple of years from applying for tenure.

My colleagues tell me that I should win promotion and tenure, since I have good student evaluations, have recently published a book, and continue to work on several projects. I don't like to say it's assured, because it's not. Oddly enough, I recently had an administrator suggest that I was spending too much of my time on research, a remark that left me feeling disheartened and distinctly unappreciated. Those feelings are certainly a factor in my decision to seek another position.

I know that many of my compatriots in history will be outraged that I am applying for jobs at all. After all, the average position in this field draws at least 300 applications. Many of my unemployed and underemployed colleagues will feel that I'm just reducing their chances to get a job -- and they're probably right. Given the current situation in my cash-strapped state, there's a pretty good chance I won't be replaced if I move on. Because of budgetary problems, my university has already lost several tenure-track positions to retirements and resignations this past year, including one in my department.

Unfortunately, my state, like many others, has decided to balance the state's budget on the back of the public-university systems. Instead of doing something truly radical like raising taxes, the state legislature prefers to cut appropriations to the universities, thus forcing them to raise tuition and, correspondingly, cut off access to higher education for many less-advantaged students.

In a principled and well-meaning decision, my university administration has decided to raise tuition a reasonable amount for next year but impose a salary freeze for all administrators, faculty members, and staff members until the state increases our appropriation. I am told that the freeze will probably remain in effect for another two to three years. In fact, further painful cuts seem increasingly likely. Campus officials have protected most faculty jobs so far, and taken most of the budget cuts out of the administrative side of the house. Forced into this situation by the state, the administration has made what I consider to be the right decisions.

Nonetheless, I can't help but realize what two or three years without raises will mean for me and my family. With inflation and the ever-increasing costs of benefits (especially health insurance) eating away at my take-home pay, it will mean a painful time for all of us. I have seen my out-of-pocket health-insurance costs double to about $450 a month since I got here. I now pay 13 percent of my gross monthly salary for health insurance premiums for my family of four.

Many of my students are first-generation college students. I spent a great deal of my time working with them to improve their basic study and writing skills, which are often quite lacking -- through absolutely no fault of their own. I enjoy the work and feel that I am performing a public service. Thinking about relocating makes me feel that I am somehow abandoning them.

But my hand has been forced. Applying for other jobs is the only means of improving life for me and my family. However, it's not just the money that's motivating me, it's also my job.

First I'll give you the positives: I genuinely like my colleagues. My kids go to good schools. I have made many good friends in the community. My town is a good place to raise a family. Even if I ultimately receive an offer, it will be a very tough decision to leave.

Despite all of these positives, I'm afraid to say it is the job itself that is ultimately getting to me. I teach four courses a semester. Every year the administration increases the size of my classes. I frequently take on extra courses to make ends meet. Whenever I do, it feels like I'm meeting myself coming and going. But whenever I don't teach an extra course, I find myself financially strapped. There are months when I can barely meet my family's bills. And it's beginning to wear on me.

How bad could my teaching load be? Most semesters I teach more than 215 students in three introductory surveys and one upper-level course. While my department has a small graduate program that awards a master's degree, I have no graduate students to assist in grading exams for me. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd like to supervise a graduate assistant anyway. Call me a control freak, but I'm not sure I could hand my essay exams over to someone else to be graded. At conferences, I regularly meet friends at research universities and liberal-arts colleges who are horrified at my situation. Many of them begin to realize just how good they've got it when I'm finished telling them about my job. In addition to their lighter teaching and student loads, I have also come to realize that they out-earn me by a significant margin as well.

Exam weeks are hell for me. In order to conscientiously grade my essay exams, I generally have to spend evenings and all my spare time tearing through the pile of exams that are on my desk. Since I believe part of the college experience is to get regular feedback from your professors and to know where you stand in your courses, I always return exams within a week. Many of my colleagues, understandably seeking a more reasonable workload, have dropped essay exams entirely in favor of "objective" tests.

So, there you have it. I'm on the market again. This won't be the first time I've tried to find another position, and I'm not sure I'll be any more successful on the market this year. But I have to try.