YSU Jambar Ad 8-26-2014

 

 
commentary by Jim Zupanic
  Hundreds of YSU part time faculty members begin each day working in businesses and industries of every size.   They work in private and public institutions.  With their education and experience they help make the Mahoning Valley successful in a wide variety of fields.    At least a couple days per week when they finally squeeze the lid closed on one days work they don’t head for home.   They head for YSU , usually physically sometimes electronically.   What do they do there?

                At a student centered institution like YSU they address the prime mission of the university.They lecture, lead class discussions,  guide  student work,  set up labs and administer assessment instruments.   It isn’t over yet.   On weekends there are tests, projects and papers to evaluate.   Time is required to prepare for the next weeks classes.  Part time faculty are often engaged in continuously upgrading their own knowledge.

                Courses taught by part time faculty can range from freshman to senior level.    Part time faculty know what types of technical expertise will be expected of graduates and how they will need to develop on the job.  They are aware of the advantages of a broad based general education component.

YSU Jambar ad 5-1-14

begin 5-1-14 Jambar Ad

end 5-1-14 Jambar Ad

         commentary by Jim Zupanic   

                      The items listed in the ad above  justify  the following conclusions.

The impact of part time faculty on an education at YSU is highly significant.   The conditions under which they teach is not a marginal matter that should be left to drift along without regular examination.   With so many difficulties confronting higher education in the last two decades the status of adjuncts everywhere has drifted downward.

                       Individual departments are not in a position to do much about some of the most important issues.    The problem affects all majors and the mission of the university.

                     Asking that a committee be created is often looked upon as a pathetic gesture intended to sidestep any problem.   The depth of the problem ,however,  requires dialogue that has never taken place.       

YSU Jambar ad 4-29-14

                                                      the above material was place in the Jambar ad
 Commentary on ad  (by Jim Zupanic)

         A significant number of part time faculty just want to be plain generous to YSU and do not feel or express any sense of exploitation or discrimination.   They feel perfectly comfortable as is.   They even make additional monetary and other donations of services to the university.  My apologies to them for suggesting otherwise.   I understand it is not a one size fits all situation.   Many people of all sorts donate their various services to the university with no compensation at all.

       However, for many the situation is a real problem and the improvement of compensation and amenities should be a top priority of the university community.   If compensation is improved some  might just use it enhance their donations to the university.   We all thank you.    Others would need to use it to pay a medical bill or rent.  Teaching a class is often a love but it is also a real pile of work.

      The academic world often seeks to enjoy a respected place as a "shining city on the hill".
A place that always questions itself as it questions others.   A place that seeks to prove itself an exception to Reinhold Neibuhrs statement that  
  "The disposition to hide self interest behind the facade of pretended devotion to values, transcending self interest, is well nigh universal." (The essential Reinhold Neibuhr, Yale Press,1986  pg 123)

YSU Jambar Ad Tuesday Feb 18, 2014

Begin 2-18-2014 Jambar ad

                                                                End 2-18-2014 Jambar Ad

         

YSU Jambar ad Tuesday Feb11,2014

                                                          end ad for Tuesday Feb 11 2014

Commentary

       Part time faculty members have expressed sympathy for students faced with ever increasing tuition and fees.   Some are uneasy that it is understandable that students might directly link these increases to personnel costs of their instructors.    The above chart clearly shows that this could not possibly be any part of the increase in tuition and fees.   

        The consumer price index plotted is the U.S. Dept. of Labor Urban Index for all items

        The tuition and fees line includes  full time 12 to 16 sem. hour tuition, the general fee and the information services fee which all students pay.  It also includes an average set of lab and standard college fees as they have blossomed forth throughout the years.  It does not include the parking or transportation service fees. 

        The actual  causes behind tuition and fee  increases can be left for other people to plot other lines on other graphs.  

    

 

Feb 4 Jambar Ad Post

 Ad Number 3

Jambar ad for Feb 4, 2014 starts here

YSU Part Time Faculty Association

Welcomes the

College English Association of Ohio

Spring Conference on English in the Arts

YSU  Williamson Hall

Saturday April 5

Conference Co- Chair Karen Schubert

YSU Part Time Faculty Member

Will Present A Session On

Teaching As an Adjunct in Ohio

for more see: ysuparttimefaculty.blogspot.com

 Jambar ad for Feb 4, 2014 ends here

                Commentary

                 Many YSU part time faculty members  maintain full time jobs in their specialty areas. Many YSU courses however ,  particularly within the general education requirement area,  are taught by part timers who are in a significantly different situation.   They love to teach and enjoy remaining associated with their major field.    They may try to put together a full time job out of part time courses from one or more colleges.    They may juggle another part time job around a part time teaching schedule.   The end result is a perilous economic situation.

               Accreditation boards,  employers, advisory committees and educators all agree on the importance of the ability to communicate in writing and speech.    Those who are charged with the responsibility of carrying out this task need a reasonably professional environment.   Those who charge them with the task incur a responsibility to work towards providing the environment.  At YSU it has been the part time faculty that have taught most of these classes. 

                In the short term some modest improvement is doable.  In the longer term a slow but determined restructuring will be necessary.     More on both in future commentaries and ads.  The roadblocks forward will often be straw men intended to get people to just give up.   We don't teach our students to give up and neither should we. 

           I hope to see as many people as possible at the conference on April 5
  

Jan 28 Jambar Ad Post

 Ad Number 2

                                                             Jambar ad for Jan 28,2014 starts here

                                 YSU Part Time Faculty Are

                                                   Engineers                   Teachers

                         Writers                       Producers
                          Managers                  Lawyers
                          Nurses                      Musicians
                          Social Workers         Librarians
                          Poets                        Journalists
                          Inventors                  Business Owners
                          Medical Professionals IT Staff
                          Artists

They start up each day and power the Mahoning Valley

    Check Next Tuesday For One Very Important Group

YSU Part Time Faculty Assoc.

for more see  ysuparttimefaculty.blogspot.com

Ad for Jan 28, 2014 ends here

Commentary

          Hundreds of YSU part time faculty members begin each day working in businesses and industries of every size.   They work in private and public institutions.  With their education and experience they help make the Mahoning Valley successful in a wide variety of fields.    At least a couple days per week when they finally squeeze the lid closed on one days work they don’t head for home.   They head for YSU , usually physically sometimes electronically.   What do they do there?

                At a student centered institution like YSU they address the prime mission of the university.They lecture, lead class discussions,  guide  student work,  set up labs and administer assessment instruments.   It isn’t over yet.   On weekends there are tests, projects and papers to evaluate.   Time is required to prepare for the next weeks classes.  Part time faculty are often engaged in continuously upgrading their own knowledge.

                Courses taught by part time faculty can range from freshman to senior level.    Part time faculty know what types of technical expertise will be expected of graduates and how they will need to develop on the job.  They are aware of the advantages of a broad based general education component.

YSU Student Newspaper Ad Series

                

           YSU Student Newspaper Jambar Informational  Ad Series

                In order to address YSU part time faculty members and the YSU greater community about issues related to part time teaching at YSU we have begun a series of ads in the YSU Jambar.   The ads will begin running in the Tuesday January 14,2014 edition.    They will continue to appear in each Tuesday Jambar  for 10 weeks.   Each ad will address a different aspect of part time teaching and will refer to this blog for additional commentary on the topic.  Each topic could also use a more thorough two ( at least two ) way discussion in some university forum.

Ad Number 1

         Did You Know?   36% of YSU classes are taught by part time faculty  (spg 2013 )

                This percentage has probably already changed  some by spring 2014.   Whether it goes up or down some it will remain high enough that the educational experience of YSU students will be critically influenced by the quality of part time teaching.  

       What is the “Right”  percentage?    The current percentage is far from uniform across university  departments.   The range of appropriate part time faculty use probably varies from department to department.   If the number grows too high it is more difficult for full time faculty to perform university and departmental service functions.  Each department often has major sub fields that would be expected to have a full time faculty member.

    What is the purpose of having part time faculty members?   The right percentage might not be

0%.   In some fields local professionals can be the best instructors for certain courses.  Their constant contact with professional practices enable these instructors to act as a transitional phase from the student  in the classroom to the graduate in their  field.

                There are some other reasons for having part time faculty.   Cost is a major one that has received attention nationally within educational circles.