I don’t assign homework in my Logic classes, though I mention that the students should always do some in order to make sure that they understand the material. We’ll see how that works out.
I really liked the article on adjuncts. One of the biggest issues, in my opinion, is that adjuncts can’t do a lot about it. An attempt to unionize can easily be countered by a policy that fires anyone attempting to unionize. However, if tenured professors jumped on the ship, the university would have a tougher situation on their hands.
The union solution faces a lot of barriers. Grad students and TT faculty are both currently barred from unionizing at private universities (students aren’t really workers, TT faculty are managers, per NRLB), before you even get into the religious exemption stuff that barred an adjunct union at Duquesne. More than that , though, I sadly don’t think the solidarity is there. Rightly or wrongly enough TT faculty view adjunctification as their own condition of existence to stymie collective action. The few steps that departments could take – for instance, refusing to staff courses above the load that could be taught by FTT, regardless of consequences for student progress – are hardly discussed, much less implemented…
RT @Dimosar: YODA: Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be...except for Ahsoka Tano, Ezra Bridger, Cal Kestis, Cere Junda,… 4 hours ago
I don’t assign homework in my Logic classes, though I mention that the students should always do some in order to make sure that they understand the material. We’ll see how that works out.
I really liked the article on adjuncts. One of the biggest issues, in my opinion, is that adjuncts can’t do a lot about it. An attempt to unionize can easily be countered by a policy that fires anyone attempting to unionize. However, if tenured professors jumped on the ship, the university would have a tougher situation on their hands.
Russ Hamer
September 20, 2013 at 1:23 pm
The union solution faces a lot of barriers. Grad students and TT faculty are both currently barred from unionizing at private universities (students aren’t really workers, TT faculty are managers, per NRLB), before you even get into the religious exemption stuff that barred an adjunct union at Duquesne. More than that , though, I sadly don’t think the solidarity is there. Rightly or wrongly enough TT faculty view adjunctification as their own condition of existence to stymie collective action. The few steps that departments could take – for instance, refusing to staff courses above the load that could be taught by FTT, regardless of consequences for student progress – are hardly discussed, much less implemented…
gerrycanavan
September 20, 2013 at 6:08 pm