Depending on who you ask, part-time teaching at the University is either convenient or grueling. Lucy Long, an assistant professor in the pop culture department, believes it is convenient for her, since the shorter hours allow her to spend more time with her three children.
“I’m home with them in the afternoon,” she said.
In addition, Long believes part-time teaching has other advantages. It provides her with more time for other endeavors – she completes research for museum exhibits and produces documentary videos.
“I’m in the office for about four hours a day,” she said. “But I can take a day away from the office and still work – I may spend an entire day working at the museum.
“Furthermore, she has more say in picking which courses to teach. “I can turn down classes I’m not interested in.”
However, Long is more fortunate than some part-time faculty, since her husband also works. This helps offset the fact that part-time faculty earn less money and receive fewer benefits than their full-time counterparts. Recognizing her fortunate situation, Long admits that other teachers supporting themselves with part-time work might not be as fortunate. “I’m in an unusual position,” she said.
As for the less fortunate part-time faculty, Phil Dickinson worries. One of his duties is to keep co-workers aware of part-timers’ concerns. “I try to keep the issues on their minds,” he said.
Dickinson understands the difficulties that part-time faculty have to contend with, since he worked part time from 1995 to 1997. For instance, he states, “even though part timers may teach fewer classes at this University, they often teach courses elsewhere to support themselves.”
“Some have to teach seven to eight, maybe 10 courses.”
In addition, the lack of benefits worries Dickinson. Benefits part-time faculty go without include health, dental and prescription drug plans, according to the University’s Web site.
“Health insurance – that’s the big one,” Dickinson said.
The fact that part timers’ spouses and children go without such coverage adds to the the issue’s importance, he added. For part timers to change their situation would be difficult as they aren’t as involved in the decision making process, according to Dickinson. “Part-time faculty are sometimes called ‘invisible faculty’.”
Although Long is content with her position, she agrees with Dickinson about part timers’ lack of power: “It feels like you don’t really belong to the faculty sometimes,” she said. “You don’t have much say.”
Recently, Dickinson addressed several of these issues when he spoke at Campus Equity Day last November. To help solve the problems, he thinks more courses should be taught by full-time faculty. “At least more employees would get benefits then,” he added. His wish is about to be granted. To cope with a smaller budget, the University has plans to greatly cut back on its use of part time faculty this fall, Dickinson said. Full timers will teach more classes to close the gap.
However, Dickinson acknowledges that part time work is valuable to teachers like Long.
“It’s a really complex situation,” Dickinson said. “On one level you think the University is exploiting people. But for some, the system works fine.”
