A regular courseload for Jodie Austin, an adjunct professor in the English Department, is three courses—but it’s barely enough to make ends meet. At the March 31 teach-in facilitated by Brandeis Labor Coalition, she remarked, “I think it greatly affects my ability to teach as effectively because I cannot devote as much energy to each course.” Austin notes that even when her husband received unemployment benefits, the income was greater than hers as a university professor with a PhD. 

Sadly, this isn’t an isolated experience; it’s an emerging trend across the country. In the last 30 years, the proportion of contingent faculty has increased sharply at institutions of higher education. Among them are adjuncts, who are hired part-time on a course-by-course basis with no benefits, and contract (contingent) faculty who are full-time but not on the tenure track. 

At first, these contingent faculty served largely as sources of specific expertise on campus—generally maintaining full-time employment outside the university. But universities have increasingly relied on contingent faculty to minimize teaching costs, and according to the American Association of University Professors, non-tenure-track teaching positions now make up 76 percent of all instructional staff nationwide. 

Cited by AAUP, nationally, contingent faculty are often paid as little as $2,000 per course.  According to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, in 2013 professors (averaged across assistant, associate, and full professors) at private four-year schools made between $63,000 and $117,000 annually, depending on area of study. At Brandeis, compensation varies by department—but many contingent faculty earn close to poverty wages, and some don’t even receive basic benefits like health insurance, as related by adjuncts at the teach-in. To make a living, many faculty work at multiple institutions, teaching four, five or more courses to make ends meet. This all comes in the face of rising tuition, which clocks in at over $45,000 annually per student. This shortfall represents a source of profit for the University, keeping costs of teaching low.

Contingent faculty often are hired on short-term contracts with little to no job security. At the teach-in, one adjunct professor related how he had been abruptly told not to expect coursework the following semester. Others have stated that they are often not told if there are course openings for them until very soon before a semester begins, leaving them in a precarious financial state. 

Furthermore, they are not compensated for the crucial work of professors outside of the classroom, such as student mentoring and advising. Academic freedom may suffer too, as according the the AAUP, contingent faculty often fear that taking an unpopular position or challenging authority might end in a non-renewed contract. 

Given the lack of tenure-track teaching positions, contract faculty often hope that their positions will lead to full-time opportunities. This, however, is almost never the case, with some professors working for decades in contingent positions. Some of this stems from the lack of professional development opportunities afforded to non-tenure-track faculty, whether to attend conferences or conduct research. 

Adjuncts and contract faculty are often isolated from the rest of the University community as well, disallowed from campus governance and not compensated beyond regular coursework. 

These issues deeply concern us as Brandeis students and members of the larger community. Our professors are an integral part of our learning experience, and we rely on them to give us the tools with which to approach the wider world. 

Many students have enjoyed classes taught by adjunct faculty, only to have them disappear the following semester—making it more difficult to form relationships with faculty. Even those who are able to maintain a more regular course schedule often lack basic meeting spaces to meet with students or hold office hours. 

We believe that any social justice university must maintain a commitment to fair treatment of all students and faculty within its walls, regardless of where they fall in the academic hierarchy. We must create labor practices that serve the needs of our entire community, including ensuring that all faculty are compensated fairly with livable wages and have access to benefits like health insurance and retirement plans. No one who works to fulfill the University’s core mission should have to hold multiple jobs just to get by, so it is crucial that students both support our non-tenured faculty in their unionization efforts and urge Brandeis administrators to remain neutral. 

A union would allow non-tenure-track faculty to have a greater voice in their teaching conditions—which are our learning conditions. Unionization would also elevate the role of contingent faculty in campus governance and the decisions that affect us all in the classroom. 

It would also allow them to negotiate more favorable contracts with the University. Beyond pay, a collective voice would help contingent faculty to have more of a presence in decision-making, be included more in university workings and advocate for more stability in their working lives. More than 3,000 part- and full-time professors throughout Greater Boston have already won a collective voice —with faculty at Boston University, Bentley, Lesley, Northeastern and Tufts all voting to form unions in the last 18 months. And at both Tufts and Lesley, faculty have made landmark gains in compensation, benefits and scholarship opportunities, improving standards in the process.

Brandeis has an opportunity here to fully realize its values, with a “union yes” vote among non-tenure-track faculty as our first step. Many contingent faculty are already organizing to gain their collective bargaining rights, and there are many ways to get involved. 

Tenured faculty can champion the cause of their colleagues by speaking out on behalf of adjuncts whose voices are not otherwise heard in the faculty senate. Students can get involved by engaging with our adjunct professors, advocating in support of contingent faculty causes or encouraging friends to sign the faculty solidarity petition on the BLC Facebook page. (Also, be sure to fill out course evaluations for adjuncts, as these are often critical to their hiring or rehiring.) 

The Brandeis Labor Coalition and many other campus organizations fully support contingent faculty in their organizing efforts —and we ask the administration to remain neutral in this process. That is why we joined hundreds of other students and faculty on April 14 and 15 to fight for improved wages and union rights for all. As Brandeis students, we believe it is crucial to compensate fairly and respect all members of our community. With these values in mind, we must commit ourselves to making Brandeis a truly just community.

—Julia Dougherty ’15 is a member of Brandeis Labor Coalition.