This is how “Our Working Conditions Are Their Learning Conditions”
PT faculty spend less time with students.
Why? We work multiple jobs, are not on campus that often, and often do not have dedicated private office space.
What’s the impact? We are less able to offer face-to-face meetings with students, have less time and flexibility for meeting with students due to other jobs, and are less able to foster strong connections with students and to provide mentorship to students.
How to change this? With higher wages and (some) job security we wouldn’t need to work other jobs (as much) and would have more time for students. With contracts issued earlier in the year we would be more able to prepare in advance of the semester leaving more time during the semester to meet with students instead of doing last-minute course preparation.
PT faculty have less time for course development and class preparation.
Why? We work multiple jobs and have to make decisions about how best to allocate our time across all those jobs, which means less time for any individual course development and/or class preparation. Low wages disincentivize spending too much “extra” time on course development or preparing for class as more work simply brings down our hourly wage (often below minimum wage) because we are only paid per course, not for any set number of hours for that course.
What’s the impact? PT professors are disincentivized from putting in a lot of time and effort into course development and class preparation to make the courses students are taking more academically rigorous, up-to-date, engaging and/or accessible/inclusive.
How to change this? With higher wages we would be able to give more time to individual courses because it would no longer be at such a financial loss to invest more time. Higher wages would also reduce our reliance on other sources of income, which would free up more time overall. With greater job security (like knowing you will teach a course more than once), we can take more risks to innovate in or update an old course or design a new course. With contracts issued earlier in the year we would be able to start course development and class preparation much sooner and have more time to thoughtfully consider how best to run a new course or update an old one.
PT faculty have a high turnover rate.
Why? Most PT faculty hold a graduate degree and possess significant expertise. However, low wages, no job security, and no benefits make this financially unsustainable as a long-term career for most people. In addition, most PT faculty have other jobs which means their schedules change a lot and they may not be able to teach the same courses each year.
What’s the impact? Students end up taking courses from new faculty who are not integrated into the department and are unaware of departmental culture or instructional practices. This high turnover rate means courses taught by PT faculty may not be (fully or at all) aligned with departmental goals or culture, and may vary significantly year-to-year or even semester-to-semester. In addition, new PT faculty lack institutional knowledge and may not be able to effectively refer students to important university support resources.
How to change this? Any improvement to job security and higher wages would make teaching as a PT faculty member much more attractive and decrease turnover rate. In order to both attract and maintain talent such as industry experts, professionals with graduate degrees, and PT faculty with PhDs, teaching a course at a university needs to be financially worth it and a positive experience.