Adjunct faculty members are indeed eligible for tenure positions. They simply need to apply for tenure positions when they become available. Then after six years they may or may not get tenure depending on the voting of their peers. This is how the process has always worked - and of course, the voting depends on their contributions to their field of study and to their profession overall. If, in the six years, one does not contribute, the chances of them being granted tenure are slim to none. If the writer does not like the process, she is welcome to find another job in her field and quit the whining.

So...Maria, what contributions to your field have you made? Please feel free to list you publications, etc. And by the way, showing up and teaching English 101 does not count.

Doesn't sound like whining to me. Maria and the others are just stating some facts and lobbying for a higher standard.

Dear Fellow Posters: Attention!!! Attention!!!! I want to welcome Mr. Peter Skurkiss back with his "KOOKY" letter pertaining to the "lack of global warming" because this particular winter has been rather cold....instead of rather warm. In Peters' kooky mind this alone eliminates any possibility that man-made global warming is in any way present. Remember.....fellow posters....Peter is a full fledged member (in good standing) of THE KOMMUNITY KOOK KLUB. So beware of any claims Peter makes in his letter.

@Truth Sought - can you offer any proof that man-made global warming exists?

Sorry TS, global warming is a myth. When the Soviet Union closed all those Artic weather stations for lack of funding, of course the average global temps would seem like it's getting warmer. Now tell me one season does not a weather pattern make. But waite, it's been getting cooler for the past couple of years. Let the name calling begin.

@Truth: Uncle Ed beat me to it...show me the money!!!

He will tell you that the Arctic ice is melting, but he will forget to mention that the Antarctic ice is growing.

Make no bones about it. Maria is indeed whining.

Dear Fellow Posters: You sound like retreads from the Bush Admin. You know.....always WRONG...but never admiting to your kooky ways. Global Warming is real.......to deny it's existance is a fools errand. I know....you folks only believe in things like .....say....the bible. Now that carries a lot of water. Science is probably something you all flunked so you you have no interest in it anyway. I am sure future generations will say this.......what were those KOOKS THINKING?????

@Truth Sought... I am not saying it is does not exist... I am only asking for support that it does exist. Please, where are the facts.

@???????---I will provide proof when I get to work and transform into The Pope. Next, just a quick little response to KooK Skurkiss: Yesterday, I believe, it was 65 degress in Acorn, I mean Akron.....just in time for another one of your KooK letters! It was warmer in Akron than in it was in Vegas!! You know, the heck with it: MEDward, it is our opinion, from what we've read, that global warming in fact does exist for various reasons based on man's actions. Greenhouse gasses would be one contributor. As a whole, the scientific community does agree. I can either copy and paste a great article for you to read or give you a man made summation of the article. But I'm bound to do neither as you've made the rules for the site, remember? Anyhoo, MEDward, we can be you, we can be us, we can be someone else if we like, but we don't have to answer to you, the ABJ, Pac-Berta, etc. I love playing by your rules and then not playing by them....Get my drift? By the way, you must go see the movie "Doubt"....as I ordered you to do yesterday.....Hey, I'll make you a deal, Truth and I will provide back up and facts if you go see "Doubt"! Obviously with Meryl Streep having a lead role the movie gets a leg up, but the content, based on rumors and possible false accusations is very compelling. Made me think different about the whole Pedophile scandal, and it will you too. This is a good movie for your Cult, it also touches on old versus new because of societal changes. A must see MEDward!

@AlterEDego: Regarding: "He will tell you that the Arctic ice is melting, but he will forget to mention that the Antarctic ice is growing."

So why don't you provide proof that Global Warming is a sham? Can you do that, AlterEd? No, because your Right-Wing "KooK" brain is what's melting. YOU PROVIDE FACTS FROM YOUR "ONE" SCIENTIST THAT THIS IS A LEFT WING CONSPIRACY HOAX....YOU FRAUD....AND, ONE OTHER THING, PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US ALL WHY BUSH'S "CABINET EXPERT" REDACTED SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS CONSTANTLY FROM REPORTS BEFORE THEY WERE PUBLISHED???????? WE'LL BE WAITING FOR ALL THE ED'S TO GIVE US FACTS TO SUPPORT THEIR CONTENTIONS......

@Robert - You are right... there is nothing here forcing you to provide facts. (As far as rules go... I am not aware of any that exist other than the TOS when you sign up)

But, for TS to proclaim: "Global Warming is real.......to deny it's existance is a fools errand." without anything to back it up really does not do much for his credibility.

As far as my opinion on the subject goes... I do belive that global warming and global cooling exist... but I do not think it is man made. It has happened before in the Earths history (look at the ice ages) and I think it will happen again.

@HoaxTherorists:
http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_evd.htm

Sorry Robert, one day doesn't bring the average temp for the month above what they say the average should be.

I see that Vegas had record a snow fall last week. Does that mean global cooling is here?

The movie, "Doubt" skirts the issue and its own subject matter. It does not change the fact of the current sex abuse cover up scandal in the Catholic Church one bit. It is a classic cheap, gimmicky and pandering attempt to shake down gullible movie goers. Also Steep's drag was as unauthentic as one can get. Nuns did not look like Nellie Olson's mother back in 1964. They may have in the mid 1800s but by the mid 60s, they were beginning to wear street clothes.

Wow Robert Immagine that, a post to an environmental web site that proves global warming. The glaciers are melting. What about the glacier next to it that is growing? Your Hadley graf seams to have become narrower compared to the original graf. Tropical diseas is spreading. Maybe people are traveling to more tropical places and bringing diseases back with them. 1998 was ther warmest year on record. So are we cooling now? And how far back do those records go?

Dear Ed: I know science is something you must detest. Too much THINKING involved. Go back to sleep.

@Truth Sought... you still provide no facts. If you want to talk about THINKING please do so yourself and back up your arguments.

I believe in science, not junk science

As Uncle Ed asked, where are the facts?

At Jake: I don't know who Nellie Olsen is, but nuns in my area of NE Ohio wore full habits (dresses to the floor and no hair showing from their habits) until about 1968 (fifth grade for me). After that, the dresses got shorter, habit veils got shorter and you could could see their bangs (no, NOT their fangs). Graduated from a catholic HS in 1975 and those nuns were NOT in street clothes. Maybe you are from another area?

HHM nuns radically went from full cover to street clothes with all hair showing and skirts down to the knees 1965 - Canton

also, nuns did not look like an ad for Blue Bonnet Margarine back in the 50s or 60s. Whoever wrote or produced this movie is cluless.

Dear Ed and Uncle Edhead: How about 98% of the worlds' science community for you two KOOKS. Is that enough for you???? Google it.

@AlterEdEgo: Regarding-

"Sorry Robert, one day doesn't bring the average temp for the month above what they say the average should be."

Really? Did you do the math yourself? Do you know how to do the math to arrive at an answer? Do you know what humor is? You've read my posts, you should by now. So where is your documentation to support your contention that Global Warming is a hoax? You guys need to put up too? Is there a double standard going on here? Tell you what, I'll start a copy and paste war:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

Go find your experts that argue it is and I'll go find experts that argue it's not.......How's that? Then what? So you believe in science not junk science. Wow, that was real intelligent. So you're eminently qualified to discern what's junk science and what's not? OR ARE YOU JUST POLITICALLY QUALIFIED VIA LIMBAUGH, HANNITY, O'REILLY, ETC.? ONCE AGAIN, YOU FRAUDS DEMAND FACTS BUT PRODUCE NONE YOURSELVES......

@JAKE: Regarding-
"The movie, "Doubt" skirts the issue and its own subject matter. It does not change the fact of the current sex abuse cover up scandal in the Catholic Church one bit."-

First, I'm not Catholic so I appreciate you pointing out to me the movies' error in garb. Second, I agree with you wholeheartedly when you say "It does not change the fact of the current sex abuse cover up scandal in the Catholic Church one bit." But here's where you and I differ, it did make me stand back and take a somewhat different view in that an honest Priest could be wrongfully accused being swept up in a witch hunt. I think both you and I would like to see real justice served with these pedophiles: Prison time along with monetary compensation. As long as a form of McCarthyism doesn't emerge and there is legitimate due process let the system take it's course. But when they ship Cardinal Lawless to the Vatican to escape subpoenas and flee justice, they give the appearance of hiding something. To me, the ones who should really be held accountable are the Cult's hierarchy; they're the ones who hid the truth, moved guilty priests from parish to parish, and stalled and sometimes thwarted justice.

ed

Posted 01:58 PM, 12/29/2008
I believe in science, not junk science

Posted 01:59 PM, 12/29/2008
As Uncle Ed asked, where are the facts

I'll tell you what I believe in, ED, moreover it's a fact:

SEPARATION OF 'KOOKS AND STATE'........

Once this country truly lives up to that aspect of the Constitution, we will finally begin to see real progress.......Stem cell research, Global Warming countering, Gays allowed to marry, the pledge of allegiance restored to its original form devoid of God, assisted suicide, AND NO MORE KOOKS IN THE WHITE HOUSE CLAIMING THEY SPOKE TO GOD......

Robert I couldn't agree with you more. However, I would not call the recent scandal a witch hunt. If you noticed, I referred to it as a "cover up scandal" in the original post. The overwhelming majority of Roman Catholic Bishops (78%) in America covered these crimes up. They are the real criminals in this whole scandal. Yet, not one of them have been jailed. If only there was a witch hunt for these guys instead of the minority of guilty priests. And again, the movie served to tap dance around the truth by encouraging viewers (including you) to doubt the validity of the real scandal.

@word: By definition, adjunct faculty are not eligible for tenure. This is one of the reasons universities have been hiring so many adjuncts -- so they can dispose of them at the drop of a hat or exploit them for years -- neither practice of which serves students.

If it is whining to demand more professional, more humane management practices on the part of our colleges and universities in order to give our students the best possible education, then I will be proud to whine along with the 21 people who signed that letter until things change.

@Robert and Dave...

Again, I am not arguing that global warming does indeed exist, along with 98% of the world's science community. I am looking for information regarding the source of the warming. Is it truly man-made? Or is it just the natural cycle of the Earth continuing?

@Educator - quit the lying. i have known many fully tenured professors that were first adjuncts. Yes, by definition, an adjunct - at that point in their career, is not eligible for tenure. But they are most certainly eligible to APPLY for a tenured track position. Most simply ARE NOT QUALIFIED.
Moreover, if the students at UA want the 'best possible education' then they can apply themselves and move on to a top tiered University.

@word: Please do your research. The reason adjuncts don't get hired for tenure track positions is that universities (even the "top tier ones") have steadily been eliminating tenure track positions in order to "save" money and erode the tradition of shared faculty governance.

If you really think adjuncts are "not qualified" to teach the same classes that tenure-track faculty teach, then you should be up in arms about the fact that students are neither told that they are being taught by "not qualified" instructors nor given a proportionate tuition discount on the classes that their part-time instructors are paid so little to teach.

@educator - if your intellectual dishonesty is any indication of your teaching standards, then it is not hard to determine why you are stuck at the level of an adjunct, if that.

Gene Ewald of Cuyahoga Falls stated that all property owners also own everything under their land. I respectfully disagree. I owned a house on Tallmadge Road for nine years and the deed specifically stated the I did not own the mineral rights. If he looks at his deed he may be very unhappy. No Gene, you can't dig for gold in your back yard. Sorry! Jim Sisk

Word~

Thank you for being the voice of reason in the debate on adjunct pay.

I find it very difficult to have sympathy for people who took a job knowing what it paid. Adjunct teaching is not meant to be something a person makes a living from for years upon years. It is designed as a pit stop on the road to other things or a wonderful way to end a career. You are right that the adjuncts that complain about their pay are stuck in their positions because they are incapable of finding or handling the more demanding full-time tenure or non-tenure positions.

The University of Akron has many wonderful adjunct faculty who are great teachers and part of the reason they are great teachers is because they understand the role of adjunct faculty and enjoy the freedom that adjunct teaching provides. The authors of this letter are trying to get blood from a turnip and believe that simply by showing up they should be paid more. Your advice is correct. If they believe they are so great and so highly qualified, they should seek employment elsewhere.

it goes something like this: he who is without sin cast the 1st stone...but, some will say quickly this was man made.

@Jake--
"Robert I couldn't agree with you more. However, I would not call the recent scandal a witch hunt. If you noticed, I referred to it as a "cover up scandal" in the original post." --

Not what I meant....I just wouldn't want to see it "turned into one" that's all. I think the movie on some level was dealing with that very thing. And you'll have to admit, the scene with Meryl Streep and the African-American mother was a little disturbing. I could see that happening. I thought the sub-plots were good. All in all I agree with you wholeheartedly regarding the church and its blasphemous cover-up attempts.....

Today's capsulized 'World of MEDward:

"@Truth Sought - can you offer any proof that man-made global warming exists?"--

MEDward, yes: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

"@Truth Sought... I am not saying it is does not exist... I am only asking for support that it does exist. Please, where are the facts."--

MEDward, yes:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

"@Truth Sought... you still provide no facts. If you want to talk about THINKING please do so yourself and back up your arguments."--

MEDward, yes:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html


"@Robert and Dave...
Again, I am not arguing that global warming does indeed exist, along with 98% of the world's science community. I am looking for information regarding the source of the warming. Is it truly man-made? Or is it just the natural cycle of the Earth continuing?"--

MEDward, yes:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

Truth-Sought and Robert provided back up as requested by Sir MEDward. However, Sir MEDward/Ed provided no back up themselves. This double standard doesn't wash, MEDward.

@PacBerta: Regarding--"it goes something like this: he who is without sin cast the 1st stone...but, some will say quickly this was man made."

And I think you know a whole heckuva lot about man made things, don't ya darlin'? Me has a sneaky suspicion that you're man made.....L O L A lola.....

Last year the ABJ published an article stating that 60% of U of A instructors are adjuncts (a nice word for part-time help). But many of us part-timers work at two or three schools and teach more classes than our full-time peers, without benefits or job security. As one poster commented, part-timers go into the job knowing that the pay and conditions are poor; true, but speaking for myself, I wanted to teach, and therefore, here I am.

My questions are: If we were to leave our jobs as one blogger suggested, who would take up the slack and teach your kids? And if we are not qualified to be full-time instructors and are not contributing as one blogger claimed, then there is no way we should be able to stand in front of any classroom as adjuncts, full-time, or tenured instructors. If we are not qualified, why are we teaching? And if we are qualified and effective, why not give us a decent wage and benefits?

If you were to leave your job, there are many with similiar qualifications that would eagerly take it. This is why such positions rarely go unfilled. Simply having a masters' degree does not qualify one for a tenure-track postion. Being an adjunct is a time to buid your resume just like you would be doing in any other profession.

So there you are... . Now get yourself published or expect to remain mid-way on the totem pole. And do not expect to be compensated the same as those that have continued to work their way up and have been rewarded appropriately.

@educator - i never said an adjunct was not qualified to teach. I said clearly that they could indeed apply for tenure track and they would not be qualified for that.

The courageous "word" and APowell are speaking with all the squeamish assumptions of those who've benefitted from an unfair system, and they're using all the rhetorical tools of those who would defend the indefensible. Holly G's logic is impeccable: the fact is that universities across the country owe their very existence to their abuse of contingent faculty, who account for some 60% of all faculty nationwide and are considered unqualified only for new tenure lines, which generally go to the freshly creditialed and the naïve in the labyrinthine ways of the academe. The issue's not only pay: adjuncts hire on knowing the terms of their contract but assuming that, as in any other job, experience will be valued and rewarded. When it isn't, complaining's justified. Calling it whining and adjunct unqualified might help others feel better, but having passed my own 101 course, I know a fallacy when I see one.

@Robert - that only says that one group thinks that global warming over the past 50 years "very likely" man-made. That offers no proof. Proof is an article that says that it IS man-made.

So I am still waiting on your proof.

Thanks - Uncle Ed

@word: You stated, "If you were to leave your job, there are many with similiar qualifications that would eagerly take it." But they, too, would be part-timers who are not considered to be qualified for a full time position, and the cycle would merely continue with no good being done for the students or the teachers. There has to be a better solution. In the meantime, I am driving between three schools and have no benefits. I am willing to do this in order to continue teaching, which I love.

And thanks to Scratched for sticking up for me. I appreciate your support.

@Scratched, your demagoguery is astounding. Word and APowell are being mature and on the nail. They have not benefited from the system you claim exists. If you want to call reason and reality a fallacy, so be it. Saying so doesn't make it so. I suggest you try another 101 course. It is called Logic.

You're guessing Robert!

@MEDward: You go first.....I'm still waiting for your proof.

@MEDward: Regarding--
"The Uncle Ed

Posted 07:40 PM, 12/29/2008
@Robert - that only says that one group thinks that global warming over the past 50 years "very likely" man-made. That offers no proof. Proof is an article that says that it IS man-made.

So I am still waiting on your proof.

Thanks - Uncle Ed"

MEDward, on second thought, because I'm not intellectually disingenuous and I do like to one up you, which is easy and self gratifying, here's one more documentation to refute your incessant need for proof:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/01/international/i130329S44.DTL

Now that I've accomodated you unlike you've accomodated me and repelled your psuedo-prophetic misconceptions......Good night, MEDward.....And, also, you've lost PacBerta old chap, she (I hope) would rather meet up with me now.........

@PacBerta: Regarding--
PacMan
My Heart Is In K-Town, .

Posted 09:28 PM, 12/29/2008
"You're guessing Robert!"

But that's your game, the clever belle you are, keeping the boys guessing. I'm into chivalry, I aim to please......Which rhymes with slea*e.....Which is who we are.......

It is simple really. The qualifications to get tenure-track and then tenured are NOT the same as those necessary for someone to teach at the adjunct level. All the whining in the world about how unfair that is won't change that. Simply having a Masters degree in a field of study is not that big of an achievement these days and will NOT in and of itself qualify you for tenure-track - nor should it. Being good at teaching English 101 does not make you Harold Bloom or Philip Roth.

@Scratched - being expereinced is besides the point and you know it. Having demonstrated your skills in a greater forum such as publishing etc. is what does - and should - qualify a person for tenure.

Hey Randy why don't you the world your qualifications.

@Robert - that contains the same "very likely" as the last article you posted... still not proof.

As far as me needing to provide proof... I have nothing to prove. The general conception is that global warming happens, but is not man made. This is why the scientific community is trying to prove it is man made. I do not have to defend the baseline.

Thanks - Uncle Ed

Uncle Ed is correct when he warns of an economic collapse if carbon restrictions are excessively mandated. If you thought $4 gasoline was bad, wait until you see your electric bill.

Word,
Thank you for your comments, but you must realize you have been wrong on many accounts. At the state university where I teach, tenure is never offered to contingent faculty. They are contract employees hired from semester to semester. Try getting a car loan or a home loan when you have absolutely no job security.

You also dismiss a Master's degree. In the city of Akron, only 6.1% of adults over the age of 25 have an advanced degree. Only 80% even have a high school diploma. Bachelor's degrees hit about 18%.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not asking to be paid the same as someone with a PhD. I respect that degree, but I did not pursue one for myself because there are thousands and thousands of PhDs unable to find jobs in the U.S. We are a nation that does not value education, and I could not incur catastrophic debts to obtain a degree when there were so few jobs out there.

We would simply like to see the salary raised perhaps to 3/4 of what a high school teacher might make, and we'd like to be ensured employment for a year at a time. Not tenure. Not huge salaries. Just enough to make doing what we love to do a means of supporting ourselves as well. We are not greedy, lazy people. We work hard, and we care deeply about our students. We want to make a difference in the world, but the sad reality is that we must also be able to put food on our tables and pay the rent.

You also state that this our career was originally meant to be a brief pause on the way to other things. Perhaps, but since PhD positions are no longer available, this is no longer the case. Like many, many careers, this one has evolved and your antiquated notion of what it should still be amounts to nothing more than exploitation of a quite a few members of the American work force.

I know of many people that began as Adjuncts and went on to be given tenure-track and then tenure. No University can legally keep anyone from applying for a tenure-track position and in fact, they are required by law to advertise the position in any number of academic journals nationwide. The competition is fierce and most will not get the job. High school teachers work 8 hours a day five days a week - adjuncts rarely do and you know it.

I think it is important to challenge Word's misunderstanding of the facts. First, the days of adjuncts going on to tenure track positions is long gone, in part because there are many fewer tenure track positions available, but also because the amount of discrimination against adjuncts in hiring practices is so rampant in higher education that the EEOC is beginning to get involved. Second, the adjunct workload is indeed comparable to a high school teacher's -- because adjuncts are given classes of about 25 students, most of whom are vastly underprepared (try teaching college-level writing or math to students who can barely write paragraphs or perform basic mathematical operations). Third, the national scope of the problem of adjunct working conditions (which also prevent them from engaging in research) has been reported many times, most recently in US News and World Report. Here is some further reading for those who may be interested, including the report on the UA administrator referred to in the letter above:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/15/adjunct
http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/bauerlein/act-scores-are-in
http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2006/ND/Feat/jaco.htm
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2008/11/07/does-it-matter-that-your-professor-is-part-time.html
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/10/14/adjunct

Educator is correct. Dear Word, do your research before you launch your misinformed half-truths. Adjuncts who work the equivalent of a full-load work a lot more than the average K-12 full-time teacher. In order to do this they also have to work in more than 2 or 3 institutions. Do you know how much work is to teach 5-6 or 7 entry level college courses per semester, dear Word? How many hundreds of student papers those teachers read per week? How much driving they have to do from one place to another every day 5, 6, or 7 times a week? And how much they get paid for all that? Also, for your information, many adjuncts are Ph.D. holders and have impressive professional activities. They just ended up trapped in a system that exploits them that unfortunately makes it hard to escape it. Many of them are still hoping to land a full-time job and they have to keep playing the academic game if they still want to be be among the job seekers.

There are, of course many who eventually burn out and leave and move on to other careers. And they do lead successful lives. Some, however, end up stuck in a particular location. People have families and ties to places. They have contexts that, unfortunately, Word doesn’t account for. They are not dumb or unqualified. They also do a very hard job and they deserve better treatment. To state what is wrong with a system that exploits a large number of people and throws fairy dust in the eyes of those who are blind and know nothing about higher education but believe in slogans and quick fixes is not whining. It is part of what a democratic society does; it is called public dialogue.
Check your facts, first, dear Word. Do some reading. And then come back and have an honest public dialogue about this.

Amen, Angela and Educator. I am currently driving between three Ohio universities and make about $20K per year without benefits and working 60 hours per week between teaching, planning, and reading papers. "Word" et al belittles us for our efforts (and is actually quite rude and punitive, in my opinion) but no one seems to appreciate our dedication to students and willingness to go the extra mile to provide a good education WITHOUT PUBLISHING AND PERISHING. I suspect that "Word" is a U of A crony who has benefits and tenure. Et tu, "Word"? Why not come down to earth and see the reality of U of A education? Peace and love!!