Adjunct professors seek better compensation

Professors in the Pittsburgh area are working to change the system within which non-tenure-stream faculty members work. 

“It’s not that costly to properly pay your faculty,” Robin Sowards, adjunct professor of English at Duquesne University and Pitt, said.

Sowards is the coordinator for the Adjunct Faculty Association, a group formed by adjunct professors at Duquesne in September 2012. It is affiliated with United Steelworkers, a labor union, and aims to support the rights of non-tenure-track academic faculty in Pittsburgh.

“The long-term goal is the removal of the two-tiered faculty system,” Sowards said. 

According to the University’s bylaws, Pitt currently operates a system that allows only professors and associate professors to qualify for tenure, which requires about seven years of work at the University. Even after seven years, a professor may be denied tenure. But once a professor achieves tenure, it becomes difficult to dismiss him or her, giving them a high level of job security. 

Tenured faculty at Pitt earn annual salaries that range from $45,000 to $130,000 according to a 2011-2012 report by the American Association of University Professors. Tenure is granted to senior academic faculty and ensures that they will not be fired without just cause.

A non-tenure-stream faculty member usually serves one or more one-year contracts before they are eligible for a three-year contract. To earn a three-year contract, the adjunct professor or lecturer must maintain a detailed portfolio including OMET evaluations, grade distribution reports, non-classroom activity and a faculty vote in their favor.  

According to Sowards, changing this type of system will guarantee students more access to their professors because adjunct professors often hold similar contracts and positions with multiple universities in order to supplement their income and do not have flexible availability or proper office spaces. 

“It’s unreasonable that such a large proportion of the faculty aren’t supported,” Sowards said. “People need to be paid properly.”

Ken Service, Pitt’s vice chancellor for communications, said the University values all of its faculty and is working to address the issues raised by non-tenure-stream faculty.

Service said the Office of the Provost is currently working with an ad hoc committee of the University Senate examining issues related to adjunct and non-tenure-stream faculty. 

Robin Clarke, a contracted lecturer at Pitt, said adjunct professors in the English department make $2,900 to $4,000 per semester per class. 

“This is kind of the University’s dirty secret, and I think if parents knew what the teachers were making in comparison to how much they’re paying in tuition, they’d be upset,” Clarke said.

Clarke has a three-year contract to teach in the English department, but she also lacks the security and income of tenure.

“I make $31,000 a year to teach six classes,” Clarke said.

Daniel Kovalik, senior counsel of United Steelworkers and an adjunct professor at Pitt’s School of Law, said most adjunct professors are living on “poverty wages.” 

He said Pitt provides health care benefits to its employees, which is certainly important, but it pays its adjunct faculty a low salary without job security. 

“Some [adjunct faculty members] are making less than $12,000 a year,” Kovalik said.

Clarke works to promote higher pay and job security for adjunct faculty. 

“People who are adjuncts often work at more than one school, so you want to organize the region,” Clarke said.

Clarke was encouraged by the response from Pitt so far in regard to adjunct faculty pay and job security. She said Pitt is one of the only universities in the region that provides health care to all of its employees. 

“The University recognizes the huge disparity,” she said.

Irene Frieze, vice president of the University senate, chairs the ad hoc committee working in collaboration with the provost’s office to consider the issues of non-tenure-stream faculty at Pitt. The committee members include both tenure and non-tenure-stream faculty from various departments and schools within the University.

“Although Pitt does quite well in terms of providing medical benefits and has better working conditions than many schools, there are many other issues that relate to further improving the working environment,” Frieze said in an email. 

Frieze said the committee is examining the current practices regarding adjunct faculty throughout the various schools within the University and hopes to find ways to promote these concerns to the regular agenda of the Senate committees.

One concern is the number of hours adjunct faculty members put into their work. 

Kovalik said adjunct professors are often considered part-time faculty even though they work full-time hours.

“They don’t take into account the true prep time for courses,” he said.

Kovalik compared Pitt to Walmart when it comes to proper pay for employees and said the University does not support unions. He added that unionization could help secure benefits such as better pay, job security, health care and a retirement plan. 

While adjunct faculty have yet to unionize, Service said the University supports the eight existing unions that represent approximately 700 of the University’s employees. 

“The University’s relationship with all of them is non-contentious,” Service said.