Adjuncts Anonymous

The lectureship proposal makes me both nervous and excited.

What scares me most is the idea of being phased out. I've taught English 101 and 201 at John Jay for five years, usually with three sections each semester. I am incredibly committed to the students at John Jay College, but don't have any way of knowing that John Jay College is committed to me. I am understandably nervous that the course load I have depended upon will disappear. I am also worried that the semi-anonymity of an adjunct means that I (and many of our outstanding adjuncts) could be overlooked, despite my efforts to be a stand-out.

I will agree that there is no 'incentive' to teach well, but I do think of teaching composition as one of my crafts (the other being fiction writing). Based on office-hour conversations I’ve had with other department adjuncts, I know that I am not alone in this. While an adjunct's relative independence can sometimes be a positive thing, we often feel invisible, and frustrated that we don't have any formal way of sharing our best experiences or teaching breakthroughs. With a toddler in the house, a smallish paycheck, and the clock ticking away my babysitter money, it would be an expensive luxury for me to spend more time here than I already do. I know that I am not alone in this, either.

I do support the lectureships, but my ears also prick up slightly when I think about exploitation (although I’m not sure this is the most accurate word). Nine classes a year is a bit frightening when you take other departmental responsibilities into consideration. I suppose that if you could teach four each semester and one during either intercession or summer, it might be doable, even with other responsibilities.

The lectureship would definitely offer adjuncts valuable intellectual opportunities. Participating in committees, attending pedagogy courses, and simply becoming a part of the departmental dialogue would bring the adjunct into the realm of the professional.

A livable income grants the adjunct the "economic permission" to fully participate in everything the department has to offer, which in turn would only benefit the department. It could keep our best adjuncts from having to balance classes at two or more colleges.

- Claudia Zuluaga