Spring Break
National organization forms to protect adjuncts' jobs
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News
Adjunct faculty rights groups are organizing to form a national voice to protect non-tenured faculty during the economic crisis.
The National Coalition for Adjunct Equity nominated two co-chairs, Deborah Louis and Maria Maisto, and is focusing on increasing membership since its teleconference on Feb. 22 to garner support for a national organization on behalf of contingent staff conditions.
"Current economic conditions have made adjunct faculty even more vulnerable than usual," Louis said.
"We believe it is imperative that a national organization dedicated only to contingent faculty be formed to educate the public about the need for just and equitable treatment of what is now 70 percent of the teaching faculty nationally," Louis added.
Adjunct faculty represent over 800,000 people in education, over two-thirds of educators in the U.S., according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The group is over 14 members. Groups that advocate for adjunct faculty rights, and wants to continue its growth to create a "predominant voice and national presence" for faculty that are "constantly underrepresented," Louis said.
The coalition explained in a press release that it wants to represent the "extensive" group collectively instead of through separate contingencies like unions and smaller rights groups. Louis said the goal is "empowering the adjuncts who represent the largest, least visible, and most vulnerable proportion of (educational) ranks."
She said that unions and smaller groups have been effective on an individual level in some cases but don't represent the group as a whole, which is too large not to be.
However, the coalition is still in its preliminary stages. Procedural and structural options, a mission statement, communications and membership need to be figured and increased in order to "really be effective," Louis said.
In a March 3 press release, Maisto and Louis explained that they and subcommittees are taking initiative to form a strong foundation quickly because of the time stress of the economy.
Pay and job security are trend issues that need to be addressed and protected at the times of risk, Maisto said.
Maisto and Louis said that studies conducted by educational research groups have pointed to a continuance of the trend — increasing adjunct use and decreasing tenure-track faculty. Because of this, they explain, there is a need to nationalize protection efforts of the group.
"There is just too many new adjunct faculty and too much growth in this variety of educator to let an idea of national unity go," Louis said.
Information as to when the group will have a Web site and begin action is not solidified. The group is also deciding on a new name, rather than the working title. Further information should be released "soon," Maisto and Louis wrote.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
The National Coalition for Adjunct Equity nominated two co-chairs, Deborah Louis and Maria Maisto, and is focusing on increasing membership since its teleconference on Feb. 22 to garner support for a national organization on behalf of contingent staff conditions.
"Current economic conditions have made adjunct faculty even more vulnerable than usual," Louis said.
"We believe it is imperative that a national organization dedicated only to contingent faculty be formed to educate the public about the need for just and equitable treatment of what is now 70 percent of the teaching faculty nationally," Louis added.
Adjunct faculty represent over 800,000 people in education, over two-thirds of educators in the U.S., according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The group is over 14 members. Groups that advocate for adjunct faculty rights, and wants to continue its growth to create a "predominant voice and national presence" for faculty that are "constantly underrepresented," Louis said.
The coalition explained in a press release that it wants to represent the "extensive" group collectively instead of through separate contingencies like unions and smaller rights groups. Louis said the goal is "empowering the adjuncts who represent the largest, least visible, and most vulnerable proportion of (educational) ranks."
She said that unions and smaller groups have been effective on an individual level in some cases but don't represent the group as a whole, which is too large not to be.
However, the coalition is still in its preliminary stages. Procedural and structural options, a mission statement, communications and membership need to be figured and increased in order to "really be effective," Louis said.
In a March 3 press release, Maisto and Louis explained that they and subcommittees are taking initiative to form a strong foundation quickly because of the time stress of the economy.
Pay and job security are trend issues that need to be addressed and protected at the times of risk, Maisto said.
Maisto and Louis said that studies conducted by educational research groups have pointed to a continuance of the trend — increasing adjunct use and decreasing tenure-track faculty. Because of this, they explain, there is a need to nationalize protection efforts of the group.
"There is just too many new adjunct faculty and too much growth in this variety of educator to let an idea of national unity go," Louis said.
Information as to when the group will have a Web site and begin action is not solidified. The group is also deciding on a new name, rather than the working title. Further information should be released "soon," Maisto and Louis wrote.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
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