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)