Search The Site
 
More options | Back issues
Home
News
Opinion & Forums
Careers
Multimedia
Chronicle/Gallup
Leadership Forum
Technology Forum
Resource Center
Campus Viewpoints
Services
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle Review
A weekly special section
Brainstorm: Lives of the Mind Mark Bauerlein

Quality Management in South Carolina 2

cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com

In part 1, I reminisced about my own years in a right-to-work state and quoted the quantitative portion of the compensation report generated by impoverished grad students at the University of South Carolina, which — in close relation to the poverty of its workforce — is bristling with new buildings, institutes, and fat paychecks for administrators thoroughly versed in that species of doltery known as quality management.

This part is devoted to extracts from the qualitative responses. You can read them all (warning, large pdf).

Before I do that, I should say that I’ve received more private email from faculty at USC — before I even released the blog post — than I have on any other student-oriented post. Even the posts about McGill, with 80 or 90 commenters on the blog, didn’t generate as much private email.

In general, this email was of the concerned variety, deploring the exploitation of the grads, noting the grandiose claims of the administration regarding research competitiveness while “there has been no corresponding attempt to build and improve the graduate program and conditions,” as one interlocutor tactfully phrased it.

Some of my faculty correspondents, though, struck an interesting additional note.
For instance, the same correspondent noted that some of the older faculty had made modest efforts in support of the grads, but that younger faculty weren’t very interested.

“There are people here interested in working to help the graduate students,” she noted. “[But] it is not just the right-to-work state that keeps people from thinking more radically. It’s a kind of liberal anti-unionism generally on the part of the junior faculty.”

(This sentiment reinforces some of the claims made about young tenure-track faculty by a not-very-good recent New York Times article to which I’d be responding if I wasn’t overdue on the USC situation. More on that tomorrow. Though if you can’t wait, Craig Smith has already responded most excellently, as has Joe Berry on the ADJ-L list, which you would know already if you subscribed to it.)

Occasonal student respondents would take on a butch tone: “I won’t complain I chose this life with my eyes open. If I want a different job, I think I should get off my ass and get one. Sorry, but that is just how I feel. I could move to a school that pays more, I could chose a major that pays more, any number of things. As long as I am not lied to re: my comp, I don’t think I should complain.”

And many individual respondents wrote about individual faculty who were understanding of their situation, were reasonable supervisors of their employment, and accommodated their studies.

Overall, however, the qualitative responses included numerous complaints about both low pay and faculty insensitivity:

The cost of attending graduate school full-time is not adequately covered by scholarships, work study, and approved loan programs.

Although only supported for a teaching assistantship, it is understood that we must still spend a full-time load doing research in the lab.

I cannot afford needed dental work.

If I did not have a spouse with a steady income, I could not be in graduate school.

While graduate students are known for living in poverty, it is really hard to concentrate when financial concerns are so immense.

I work 40 to 50 hours a week. I am only paid for part time work, which is 20 hours.

Some professors chastise students if they put too much time into their schoolwork!

The worst is the lack of financial compensation. For the amount of work and service I do for the school of music, I expected that I would at least get a tuition waiver.

I’m always at school doing work for my assistantship rather than for class!

I am paid $114 every two weeks, which averages out to about $5/6 an hour. My supervisor hired another intern at my agency to fill the eight hours that I chose not to work, that intern got paid $12 an hour for 20 h. week doing less amount of work than I did as graduate assistant. A graduate assistantship is only beneficial if you need instate tuition, other than that, the student needs to get a second job because the amount you make is crap.

If it wasn’t for my parents paying tuition, I would be swimming in debt or up to my ears in loans.

I was getting paid about $50 per month until the last semester, after my tuition deduction.

When I worked with a professor who allowed me to work on weekends to make up time it was easier than punching a clock. However, the full-time academic load of a doctoral program … specifically the amount of reading and writing … time that I could use for studying is used for graduate assistantship work. The work hours should not be more than 10. It is not healthy for individuals to find themselves having to work on something every single day for the majority of the day. I am working diligently on determine how to get in exercise now to hold off burnout. I do wish that I would have looked closer at other schools that offered stipends without work obligations. D[ue] to work, my school experience is not as enjoyable and now I am considering dropping down to part time and just getting work in the community to create a level of sanity in my life. At this time, it is more just getting the work done instead of engaging in the process of learning.

A required teaching load of two classes per term (more if the department needs it, I have taught three classes per term for two years) is far too much work combined with research, coursework, traveling, and dissertation prep.

I’m very fortunate to have a spouse that supports me.

I will run out of funds for attending school after about semester three (this is my first semester)

very high stress level

I worry about my expenses a lot

As Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests, financial stability takes precedence over all other needs, especially expansion of the mind. Sometimes it is difficult to focus on scholarship when I am worried about having enough money to cover the gas for my commute.

I don’t let my extra job get in the way of my doing homework, but I don’t get any research done. And being hungry and frustrated about money all the time makes it
difficult to do anything terribly productively.

I have to spend a lot of time trying to deal with budgeting and organizing finances.

My terrible financial situation stresses me out daily.

Since I have to work so many hours during the summer, I have very little time then to devote to my larger research projects.

My financial worries significantly interfere with my ability to concentrate on school work and job responsibilities.

It is just not possible for lower-class person to enter into graduate school without incurring an enormous amount of debt. Especially for those of us that have health problems which our CRAP GRADUATE SCHOOL INSURANCE will not cover. This is a serious problem.

I routinely consider abandoning my degree because of my horrendous financial situation. I am 30 years old. I cannot afford to bleed money. I have virtually no savings, and it is time I earned a living. I have about $35k in student loan debt now, and it is likely to double by the time I am finished. My expected income with this degree is at best only a few thousand more than I could make right now.

While not paying grad students very well is a great way to keep a healthy turnover (either by graduating out or dropping out), I do wish I could start to save money now, rather than waiting the 10-15 years before I have a “real job”. Money stress is a strong factor when considering whether or not to continue in academia.

Take away the tuition cost ($11,000-$14,000 — including fees) and an adult is left on trying to live on $10,000-$13,000 a year. That is poverty level. All adults in my doctoral cohort are late 40s early 50s. This makes it difficult financially to not work — which is what we are told they expect. Although I find it interesting that we are assigned graduate assistantships to work at the university for a stipend. Maybe the thinking is that it is easier. I am grateful for my stipend, but I am looking at other options for down the road. At least when you work for the private sector, if you have something to do, need a day you can take some vacation time. Here it is, get in your 15 hours or else. Too much stress! I am too old for that. Have already lead a professional life with flexibility at this stage — it feels stressful. Maybe these are issues isolated due to my age — but there are a lot of “older than 40” students in doctoral programs.

I make enough at my GA to buy groceries and gas — that’s all it provides. Student loans cover tuition fees and rent, then I have about $1,800 left for the semester. If I was a traditional student this might be enough, but I have a child to support so I came here with some savings and receive child support regularly.”

Posted at 02:46:48 PM on July 7, 2008 | All postings by Marc Bousquet

Comments

  1. It’s not surprising that untenured faculty are reluctant to speak out. That does not mean they are unsympathetic.

    — Jane · Jul 7, 03:49 PM · #

  2. While some “junior” faculty are sympathetic to the plight of the contingent, many have a “There but for the grace of God go I” maxim gnawing at the back of their brain which makes them try to differentiate themselves from the contingent faculty – in order to feel superior and meritorious of the distinction which separates them from the contingent faculty (some of whom have published as much as or more than the “junior” faculty – and in some cases the senior faculty!).

    Yes, it is the tenured faculty who have the institutional responsibility to speak out, for they have the job security which was designed to support their academic freedom.

    BTW Yale has just raised the annual stipends of grad assistants in the humanities and social sciences from $20K to $25K expressly to cover the summers (or is it to avoid paying unemployment compensation?). Science grad assistants will also see a raise – from $25K to $29K.

    No one promised Yale would be fair and balanced, now did they?

    — Anti-hypocrisy advocate · Jul 7, 06:22 PM · #

  3. As a SC native, I was expecting SC’s English Dept. to offer an assistantship that paid about the same as the other graduate programs to which I’d applied and been accepted, but instead, they offered me a $6,000 stipend and half-priced tuition. Ridiculous.

    — SC expat · Jul 8, 06:46 AM · #

  4. If you want to pay for U of SC’s many new condos, giant fitness center, and dozens of well-heeled variations on administrators (VPs/assoc. VPs/asst. VPs/asst. to assoc VPs/etc.), someone has to get squeezed. In this case, the squeezees are graduate student employees and the few tenure track faculty who haven’t been replaced by part timers.

    — H.M. · Jul 8, 07:31 AM · #

  5. I am a USC graduate student who did not enroll in Maymester. Because of this, I had to wait until June to visit the doctor because our insurance plan doesn’t cover you during times when you are not enrolled. They tell you that you’ll be reimbursed, but that’s not much help to a grad student who needs the $80 they’d have to pay upfront for the visit when they need that money for food and rent. I was a graduate assistant last semester and I chose NOT to return. During my time as a GA, I had to work another part time job in order to pay my bills. This coming fall semester, I will probably struggle even more financially since I will only have one part-time job. However, I cannot repeat a GAship again. Last semester, because of the level of stress, I stayed sick with pityriasis, bronchitis, and ended up with mono. I have to make some changes in order to be healthy. When I graduate, I hope to land a job. What’s funny to me is that in my profession we go into debt in order to receive a degree for a profession that pays maybe $30,000 (if you’re lucky) entry level.

    — Fran Sanderson · Jul 8, 01:08 PM · #

  6. the link to the qualitative stuff is wrong

    — bla · Jul 8, 01:12 PM · #

  7. If they even think about hiring Andy Card, one of Bush’s henchmen to run the University of SC I will quit, Andy Card and Bush are probably the worst set of policy changes that could ever happen to this university… http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/455253.html

    — Mad · Jul 8, 01:27 PM · #

  8. If you are a student in the social work department your stipend is $1000 a semester with in-state tuition ($120 every 2 weeks after taxes for 8 paychecks) We spend 7.5 hours at our GA a week, but we pay tuition to spend 15-16 hours at mandatory internships every week. 99% of those internships are not paid and we are not reimbursed for travel. We all knew that when we signed up for this, but realistically our schedules make it difficult and almost impossible to have another job to get by on.

    — SJM · Jul 8, 01:37 PM · #

  9. i’m in the final stages of writing my dissertation. had to quit my ga-ship in may to be ready to defend by sept. i’m a single parent who for 5 yrs has had to teach 2 or more classes/semester and/or perform grunt work as a profs ga. even with scholarships and 2 ga-ships, i have begged and borrowed to survive. now i’m so unbelievably broke and disheartened. i’ve gone to my advisors who simply shrug and cluck sympathetically while still expecting the same level of work and time from me. i just hope i can hang on long enuf to finish my d.

    — broke down · Jul 8, 01:39 PM · #

  10. I am also a USC grad student. In addition to the students’ financial woes, there are certain professors in my department who limit their associations to students that are their “favorites”, and if a “non-favored” student works for them, it makes for a tense and stressful work environment. When these same professors find out through the grapevine that you, the “non-favored” student’s grades have fallen and they see you don’t go to conferences, then in their minds you “must not be suited for graduate work”. If it were left up to them, you would be kicked out of the program and your money given to an existing “favorite” student or an incoming student they intend to add to the stable of “favorites.” They fail to realize how difficult it is to concentrate on studying and research when one has to spend several hours a week in the presence of someone who clearly doesn’t like you (but to whom you’ve been assigned); when you can’t pay your rent and lights for the month because financial aid (loans included) ran out four weeks ago (and the “moonlighting gig” don’t pay well enough to keep one’s head above water); when you have sick family members (that you lose soon afterward), and you have a gnawing toothache from a cavity that the dentist won’t even look at unless you are able to pay at least 75% of the bill upfront, despite studies linking heart disease, stroke, and diabetes stemming from tooth decay. I guess office politics can also be added to the financial woes of students (at least in my case). I haven’t come this far to quit, so I will stick with my program in spite of the adversity. However, landing a decent paying job (ostensibly out of SC) won’t come soon enough, and I am actively searching for a job both in and out of academia.

    — dnd · Jul 8, 01:48 PM · #

  11. Let’s do some math! If USC took some of its millions of dollars it grants to the athletic programs and gave some to students who actually are there for an education, maybe the grad assistants could afford to live! I mean does Spurrier actually have to be paids millions a year when the football team cannot even win a championship. Priorities people!

    — Jane · Jul 8, 03:33 PM · #

  12. I finished a PhD in English at USC. If it were not for the support (read: $) of family, I would never have been able to last. For our $12K/yr, we taught three courses of mostly composition. Of course, we muddle through, get a few publications and finish a dissertation. If we’re very lucky, we can nab tenure track jobs, but most of us end up on an adjunct basis somewhere, some of us get one year teaching jobs with real benefits.

    We are told by well-meaning faculty to research and publish better harder faster stronger: and that does seem to be the only way to leap out of this orbit and get a TT job. But the problem with all this heavy teaching and lack of resources, time, and connections to do successful academic work doesn’t end when we finally get the degree. Because we haven’t the advantages held by our competitors in the job market at some schools (the funded library trips, the fellowships), we are behind one, two years in research and publication. And now, though we do get paid, we are paid to teach, not to research. And those jobs are temporary.

    I think you’ll find that we USC grads in English know our stuff and work hard. We haven’t gotten through this without considerable dedication and skill. If our CVs look a little slim (when you notice we haven’t spent a year at Prestigious Library, and we don’t have that outstandingly placed journal article), please regard us as plants that need a little water and room to grow. Or just take pity on us and make an offer. You won’t find a harder worker for your department.

    — anonymous · Jul 8, 04:59 PM · #

  13. On Comment 12:

    Yes, indeed, the entry-level tenure-trackee is now expected to have the publications of yester-year’s fourth-year tenure-tracker! This is called a “speed-up” and it is used to force the majority of the new PhD’s into adjunct-indentured servitude.

    — Anti-hypocrisy advocate · Jul 8, 09:40 PM · #

Commenting is closed for this article.
Copyright © 2008 by The Chronicle of Higher Education | Contact us
User agreement | Privacy policy | About The Chronicle | Site map | Help
Subscribe | Advertise with us | Press inquiries | RSS | Today's most e-mailed
Home | Chronicle Careers | The Chronicle Review