Scholarship table
http://mu-warrior.blogspot.comI know, I really know it's McAdams; but please ignore the source. I am just asking would this raise tuition and room and board costs at MU? Do other Universities have union staff and does it work?
Chick Jr. is a grad student worker at Marquette. She says she has received a few emails about the union, but she ignores them, because she believes she is already compensated fairly. She gets free grad school tuition, a stipend, and access to health care plans (which she does not take advantage of since she gets it at her main job). If she stays on her intended path, she will get a Masters and PhD without incurring any debt, which she thinks is a pretty good deal.
Wow, I'm very concerned for Benny. Being able to mimic Myron Medcalf's writing so closely implies an oncoming case of dementia.
Grad students like your daughter are not the ones being exploited in the university system. It is the non-tenure track faculty and adjuncts who have it really bad. And those people should unionize, it is pretty despicable how they are treated, not just at Marquette but everywhere. I suspect they are trying to loop as many grad students into their cause because strength in numbers. Personally, if I was in your daughter's position I would join, because an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Really? I hope she focuses all of her attention looking out for her own self interest as she perceives it to be.
Isn't this philosophy the opposite you instilled in your son whom you boast about the service trips and such he goes on? Not saying either is right or wrong just looking for some clarification why one brings you pride fighting injustice and the other you say is hopefully only looking out for her own self interest.
Not saying either is right or wrong just looking for some clarification why one brings you pride fighting injustice and the other you say is hopefully only looking out for her own self interest.
Not at all. She is of service every day at the hospital. That doesn't mean she has to make sub optimal economic decisions for the sake of others. I guess we just have a different view of the 'victimization' of non tenured instructors. My answer. Get a different job.
Fair enough, as I said just looking for some clarification as on first glance it seemed to be a statement clashing with your brand. And as Benny said I guess it depends on ones opinion of injustice.
I think some folks are misinterpreting my position. Perhaps it is my fault because I wasn't terribly clear. It is not that I think universities should necessarily pay adjuncts or non-tenured faculty more. It is that we should have less adjuncts, and more tenure-track faculty.In the last 10-20 years, universities have moved away from tenured faculty to a model of more and more adjuncts who they don't have to pay benefits and make probably less than minimum wage when you consider how much time goes into instruction and the fact that they are paid by the course. This is by no means unique to MU. But the trend is worrying. It lessens the value of instruction to students, and the employment it provides is not a living wage. Many adjuncts have poverty wages and are dependent on welfare programs to survive. Catholic social doctrine demands dignity of the worker and a living wage. It is hypocritical for MU to provide jobs that do not meet this basic threshold. I do not wish for adjuncts to be paid more. I just wish for less adjuncts. If adjuncts demanding benefits and pay increases through unionization makes the current model economically less advantageous and tips the scales back towards hiring more tenure track faculty, all the better. Finally, my position was never meant as a criticism of anyone's decision on whether to unionize or not unionize. But I do think that social justice demands more than finite service projects or charitable giving that are tangential to everyday life. We also need to incorporate justice into decisions about our jobs, our commutes, our diet, our housing, and every aspect of our life. Prudential people may come to different decisions about each of these facets of everyday life, but we certainly cannot exclude them from our sense of justice. Self-interest should be part of the equation, but it should also be colored by a sense of social justice and the common good.
Are you sure that this is the case for Marquette? I am certain that all of their full-time positions pay above a living wage. As for the adjuncts, I believe that they are paid on a per-class basis, and most people who teach them (at least the smart ones) do it as a side gig. All of the adjuncts I know don't even do it for the money; they enjoy teaching the occasional class, and it looks good on their resume.I have heard of people who survive (barely) by cobbling together adjunct positions at multiple universities. Again, it's not like they would be unable to get a better-paying job, and if fewer people took these low-paying adjunct assignments, the university would have no choice than to raise their pay rate.
You are probably right vis a vis full-time positions. But adjuncts are paid per class and it usually in the $3000 - $4000 per class per semester range. Do the math: it is impossible to live on these wages working 50 hours a week between class prep, instruction, grading, etc. And in addition, adjuncts now account for 70% of faculty positions in colleges and universities. In certain fields like nursing and dentistry, it is common for professionals to teach a course or two while also working in their field full time. But in most fields like the liberal arts, this is definitely not the case. Lastly, if conditions for adjuncts were so good, why would they be trying to unionize?
I didn't conditions were good; I said no one has to take those jobs. All it takes is a couple of willing people and a cooperative union to make it look like they are "trying to unionize".I have a lot of experience dealing with the SEIU. They are relatively weak as far as unions go, and in my experience, are more concerned about dues revenue than looking out for their members.And I wouldn't lump Marquette in with other colleges. No way is 70% of their teachers adjuncts. That number is skewed by community colleges, where the pay is indeed pitiful. Awhile back I was offered an adjunct professorship at one teaching accounting. I ran the numbers and determined if I spent one hour outside the classroom working for each hour I taught (and you know it would be way more than that), I would be making $11 an hour.
Are the non-faculty staff ( maintenance, cafeteria, housekeeping etc.) at MU unionized or are they outsourced?
You are probably right vis a vis full-time positions. But adjuncts are paid per class and it usually in the $3000 - $4000 per class per semester range. Do the math: it is impossible to live on these wages working 50 hours a week between class prep, instruction, grading, etc. And in addition, adjuncts now account for 70% of faculty positions in US colleges and universities. In certain fields like nursing and dentistry, it is common for professionals to teach a course or two while also working in their field full time. But in most fields like the liberal arts, this is definitely not the case. The part that makes it appear even more sinister is that many of these adjuncts are recent graduates of graduate programs with heavy debt loads being paid every month to the very university paying them poverty wages. Lastly, if conditions for adjuncts were so good, why would they be trying to unionize?
Chick, I'd still be curious to see what percentage of MU teaching staff are adjuncts. Do you know if this is available anywhere?