It’s nice to feel appreciated. It’s even better to feel adequately paid, but being on the receiving end of a statement of appreciation is at least a good start.
Such is the thinking, anyway, behind a new lobbying drive by the New Faculty Majority, an advocacy group for college faculty members who are off the tenure track. The organization is urging such instructors to ask the governors of their states to issue proclamations recognizing their work, in hopes that such statements might pave the way for future improvements in their working conditions.
The effort was inspired by the success of Washington State educators in getting a succession of governors to issue proclamations recognizing adjuncts. The most recent, signed last week by Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, declares October 30 as “Adjunct and Part-Time Faculty Recognition Day.”
It rattles off points that advocates for adjunct faculty members themselves have long tried to make, characterizing such instructors as integral parts of college faculties who “are highly qualified and experienced but receive lower salaries and lack job security.”
Maria C. Maisto, president of the New Faculty Majority, said the Monday posting of the Washington proclamation on an e-mail list for adjunct faculty members prompted her to encourage adjuncts around the nation to appeal to their states’ governors to issue something similar.
She hopes to see a batch of such proclamations signed in time for the October 28 start of Campus Equity Week, an annual event that seeks to draw attention to the poor working conditions of many adjunct faculty members.
“Make Campus Equity Week a standout in your state by obtaining a proclamation from your state governor,” urges the Web site through which the New Faculty Majority organizes and promotes Campus Equity Week activities.
Ms. Maisto’s appeal has prompted debate among adjuncts over whether such proclamations are worth much. Washington’s governors, who issue about 300 proclamations a year, have been signing declarations of appreciation for adjuncts since at least 2003. During that time the pay of the state’s adjuncts has improved marginally but has hardly reached levels comparable to the salaries of tenure-track professors.
Jack Longmate, a part-time instructor of English at Olympic College who has played a central role in getting Washington’s governors to issue the proclamations, said the statements serve mainly to “draw attention to a problem that needs attention drawn to it.”
Ms. Maisto said such statements need to be “used strategically and publicized,” serving as the basis for op-eds and other efforts to sway lawmakers and public opinion. She said the proclamations “can also educate adjuncts themselves,” who often “internalize the disdain and disrespect that they get from institutions.” Being reassured of their value, she said, might help inspire adjuncts to demand better treatment. “It is a useful tool,” she said.
