"Contingent Faculty" by any other name...

I was replying to Amy Wink's paean to being poor and righteous, when a comment below reminded me of the term "contingent faculty." I think this term ranks right below Adjunct in its usefulness and utter lack of description.

I am all for missionaries. Teaching is mostly a mission field. I knew this going in. I just didn't know the extent of the costs, nor did I realize the entrenched class system of tenured and not: might as well be Brahmans and untouchables.

"Oh, you are a contingent faculty. You can get me nowhere. I don't need to talk to you. Good luck with this."

Follow the link above. Post a comment. Spread the love.

Behind the scenes at an adjunct hiring

In a remarkable candid and honest assessment of the adjunct situation (in the sciences), Twice (my guess is that both she and her husband are tenured in the sciences) sketches the other side of the desk.

While my initial sympathies lie elsewhere, I am sure that there are a large number of sympathetic voices who try to address the adjunct mess when they can, but come up against institutional barriers.