Adjunct Pay: It doesn't

Adjunct Pay: It doesn't pay to Adjunct

This is an older posting from AdjunctAdvocate blogs, but it does provide some important adjunct fodder:

November 17th 2005
Finally, Adjunct Compensation Explained....It's About Meritocracy, Don't Ya Know?
Welcome to Neverland, where compensation is based on one's contribution to the university.....
Based on the following criteria, Syracuse University was selected as the number one employer in the central New York region: The Donlon Award honored the institution for wellness, family care, flexible work arrangements, individual growth, development and counseling.
However, the Society for Human Resource Management and the local United Way evidently didn't get the memo that over 600 part-time faculty at Syracuse University are working to organize a union because they are paid peanuts, 80 percent of them do not have access to health care or other benefits, and none of them enjoys job security.
Flexible work arrangements? How does getting sacked at the end of every semester work for you?
Syracuse's VP of Human Resources, Neil Strodel, (who applied for the Donlon Award) explained that compensation at Syracuse is bawed on "contribution to the university."
We thank Mr. Strodel for his insightful explanation of the meritocracy that is higher education. That's why carpenters at universities all over the country earn more than some tenure-line faculty. The tradespeople are making more substantive contributions. Time for faculty nationwide to break out their old T-squares, plumbs and levels and kiss classroom instruction goodbye....