On college campuses across the nation, Wednesday, February 25th has been designated National Adjunct Walk-Out Day (NAWD) in order to raise consciousness about the inequities and exploitation faced by adjuncts.   Although there is no national or centrally coordinated effort, the idea of NAWD has struck a nerve with thousands of adjuncts who endure low wages, job insecurity, and other disparities as they teach the current generation of college students. 

 

At The Ohio State University, adjuncts are usually called “lecturers.”  As lecturers, many of us receive far less pay than tenure track professors, even though we may carry a higher teaching load (three to four classes per semester), teach many of the introductory undergraduate classes which require a great deal of time and effort, contribute many hours of unpaid service to our departments by serving on committees, and going above and beyond the requirements of simply teaching.  In addition, OSU lecturers often work on year-to-year contracts that offer little job security. That means that we do not have the academic freedom and protections that tenure track professors receive even though we do much of the same work and may even teach twice as many classes!

 

Thus, in recognition of the movement, The Ohio Higher Education Coalition (Ohio Education Association, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Conference AAUP, Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association, Ohio Student Association) has designated February 25 to be Adjunct Dignity Day (ADD) in Ohio. This is to protect Ohio adjuncts from retaliation for participating in anything called a "walkout." On this day, in lieu of “walking out,” this is what you can do to support the fight for adjunct equity, whether you are a graduate student, tenure track professor, adjunct/lecturer, or staff.

 

Educate Yourself

Based on the survey that was sent out recently in the English Department, several members of our department wanted more information about the issues facing adjuncts.

 

Here are some resources to start with:

• An excellent piece about the conditions of contingent adjunct labor by Rachel Riederer from Guernica, an award-winning online magazine of ideas, art, poetry, and fiction.

http://www.guernicamag.com/features/the-teaching-class/

• A documentary about adjuncts:  Con Job: Stories of Adjunct & Contingent Labor.  On the home page, you will find links to the entire documentary and links to specific sections.

http://ccdigitalpress.org/conjob/

• Learn more about adjunct issues in Ohio by visiting these organizations

o    The New Faculty Majority, an Akron-based national organization focused on campus equity for adjunct and contingent labor at www.newfacultymajority.org

o    The Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association at www.optfa.com

o    The Ohio Higher Education Coalition at www.facebook/ohiohighereducationcoalition

 

Educate Your Students

While many of us may not be able to “walk out” of our classes on February 25th, we can devote a portion of class time towards raising awareness about adjunct working conditions and the connection between student learning and faculty working conditions.  For those of us who don’t teach on Wednesday, feel free to begin the discussion on Tuesday, February 24th or whenever your class meets during that week.  

 

Here are some ideas to start a discussion with your students:

• Show your students this short video created by Anne McGreevy, Senior Lecturer at OSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhhi6hDy3mA&feature=youtu.be

• Have them read the article in The Nation magazine which explains how OSU is the most unequal university in the United State

            http://www.thenation.com/blog/179920/what-makes-ohio-state-most-unequal-public-university-america 

• Have them read the informational pamphlet about adjuncts (see attachment)

• Conduct a discussion with your students about rising student tuition and student loan debt.  Where is their tuition money going?  How should educators be paid? 

 

Spread the Word

• Forward or share the Adjunct Dignity Day flyer (see attachment) with your colleagues, friends, and students.  Print them out and hand them out to students or place them in the mailboxes of your colleagues

• Pass out and wear the stickers that bear the “scarlet A” or wear red clothing on February 25th to demonstrate solidarity and support for adjuncts.  We hope to have stickers available at the front desk of the in 421 Denney Hall for those in the English department on February 25th or you can print out your own with the attached image. (Avery 2 1/2" round sticker. The one with the blue circle ADDbuttonPOS.pdf is only to show position on the round sticker. The one without the blue circle ADDbutton.pdf should be used to print.)

• Post on social media using #AdjunctADD or #NAWD

• Use the sticker as your profile pic on February 25th

• Upload pictures of you wearing the sticker, hopefully in front of the sign for your department to demonstrate your support

• Forward this email to your colleagues in other departments or post on other departmental listservs so that this can be a university-wide movement.

• I hope that this email has provided enough resources for you to raise awareness with your students and colleagues as you see fit.  If you would like to become more involved, please email CentralOhioAdjuncts@yahoo.com.

 

In solidarity,

 

Dr. Nancy Yan

Lecturer, English

OSU-Newark

 

Dr. Pranav Jani

Associate Professor, English

 

Andrew Kinney, M.A.

Lecturer, English

OSU-Mansfield

 

Zachary Harvat

Phd Student, English

 

Cami Freeman, M.F.A

Senior Lecturer, English

 

Anne Lucy McGreevy, M.F.A

Senior Lecturer, English

 

Reid Hardaway

Phd Student, English