Good evening, WYFP community. I hope that everyone is surviving the horrible weather. Here's a view of our yard BEFORE the latest snowstorm:
I thought about writing about the weather tonight, but instead I want to tackle another issue that affects our nation's future--higher education.
WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pootie pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?
Please follow me below the colonial cheese doodle.
I have spent most of my life in higher education. I entered college in 1968 at age 16, and I went straight onto graduate school. When I finished my PhD, I worked for a university museum for two and a half years. Then I was offered a teaching job, and I have been a university professor for the past 30 years. The Republicans will claim that I have no experience in the "real world". However, a college education is an increasingly important part of the real world. The Wall Street Journal reports that unemployment for college grads was 3.4% in November, while the unemployment rate for those with only a high school education was 7.3%. A 2012 Census Bureau report indicates that college grads are likely to earn more than a million dollars more than high school graduates over the course of a lifetime. A college education provides a lot of non-monetary benefits as well. It helped me become a life-long learner.
The economics of higher education are increasingly challenging, especially for lower and middle income families. The College Board reports that the average in-state tuition for a four-year public college is $8655. Average tuition at a four-year private college is $29,056. This does not include room and board! Even though I am a college professor at a major university, all three of my kids qualified for substantial need-based financial aid when they went to college.
You might wonder where all that money is going. Sadly, not enough is going to help pay the people who actually teach our college students. Personally, I can't complain. I have a good job, a decent salary, benefits, and job security. I have tenure. However, these days I am in the minority. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that:
Across the nation, colleges have undergone similar shifts in whom they employ to teach students. About 70 percent of the instructional faculty at all colleges is off the tenure track, whether as part-timers or full-timers, a proportion that has crept higher over the past decade.
Many of these professors are adjuncts, who typically
earn between $20,000 to $25,000 per year. They often teach several courses at different institutions to make that salary, and most receive no benefits. This is not just hard on the adjuncts; this is hard on their students. Adjuncts don't have time to meet with students, and universities that hire lots of adjuncts have
lower graduation rates.
There is another disadvantage of the increasing use of adjuncts that has gained less attention in the press. It is the problem of writing letters of recommendation. As a full-time college professor, I write literally hundreds of letters of recommendation each year. These letters are for students looking to continue their educations (grad school, law school, med school...) and for students who are looking for jobs, scholarships, and internships. Adjuncts simply do not have the time and the resources to write these letters. Some are not even allowed to use university stationery. Since adjuncts are hired on a semester-by-semester basis, they don't have the time to get to know their students well. Since I am hired on a permanent basis, I often have students who take several courses with me during their four years at our university. They start out with me in introductory archaeology and end up working with me on a senior thesis or an independent research project. This is what education should be all about.
If I were queen of the world, I would change the way higher education currently operates. I would cut back on the building campaigns, expensive sports programs, and highly compensated administrators, and I would focus on hiring full-time faculty who are dedicated to teaching and research. Unfortunately, that's not happening, and that's my FP for tonight.
So what's your f@#$ing problem?