February 29, 2012

Adjunct Organizing Committee

Several years ago, the Adjunct Organizing Committee of the Temple Association of University Professionals started to organize a union for adjuncts because we wanted Temple to recognize and fairly compensate the important work part-time instructors do at Temple University. We know that adjuncts are more than “flexibility units” providing occasional instruction. Temple has followed the pattern of some higher education institutions in having part-time faculty be almost 50% of its teaching staff in the schools and colleges represented by TAUP. We believe that better working conditions for adjuncts – parity in salaries, benefits, offices -- would also make a better educational experience for Temple students, who, after all, are paying the bills through their constantly increasing tuition.

We have decided to suspend that campaign for the time being. This effort had some positive effects for adjunct faculty at Temple. We put issues on the table, which can be negotiated and improved on in the future:

• Health insurance as we accelerated the organizing campaign with full-time organizer from AFT and part-time Temple adjuncts paid by AFT (September 2008)
• Free parking for adjuncts on select campuses restored when threatened (Summer 2009)
• Information about rights to unemployment compensation emailed to adjuncts (2009-2011)
• Public written adjunct policies as we started the card campaign (March 2010)
• Staff position in the Provost’s office to deal with adjunct and non-tenure track concerns (March 2010)
• Better conditions (pay, health insurance, tuition) for graduate students who were brought under the TUGSA contract through these new policies – though this illustrates the problem of an incompletely unionized faculty. Grad students replaced adjuncts in some departments and then adjuncts replaced some grad students (2010, 2011). It’s still happening, unfortunately.

 

However, until we actually have a union, adjuncts will continue to be exposed to arbitrary decisions by the administration, and in the harsh climate exacerbated by the Harrisburg budget cuts, who knows how uncomfortable our position can be made? We have already seen our numbers accordion wildly over the past two years, with last minute non-renewals and last minute rehires, making our lives frustratingly unpredictable.

Adjuncts are always most vulnerable members of the faculty, especially in these hard times. External factors, like budget cuts by the state, have been a major factor in the increased teaching load for all at Temple, including graduate students and full-time faculty, tenured and not.

We have not wavered in our conviction that the whole faculty needs to be organized. We plan to keep up this adjunct web site with articles relevant to adjunct teaching and working conditions. We will also keep the adjunct Google list as a way of communicating with everyone interested, so if you would like to join, please contact taupaft@aol.com and we will add you.

 

February 28, 2012

Apply for
Unemployment Compensation

Tthere is something important you can do for yourself right now. Apply for unemployment benefits. That’s obvious if you have no course assignment for next semester or if the number of courses you teach has been reduced for the fall. But anyone not teaching this summer can apply between semesters.

As an adjunct, you may believe you are not entitled to unemployment benefits. However, we encourage you to investigate this for yourself, and see if you are eligible. Many other adjuncts have applied and received benefits, so don't hesitate. We encourage you to apply the day your contract expires, and, if you're denied, appeal the decision. Go to the Pennsylvania state unemployment website for more information:http://www.uc.pa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/uc_pa_gov/11449/eligibility/567092

There is a helpful pamphlet from the Chicago Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor. You can download a revised PDF or order a printed copy from their web site,   http://www.chicagococal.org/index.html.   Just scroll down the page.

Keep in mind we are simply trying to provide you with useful and helpful information. None of this is intended as legal advice.