As Summer Looms

Before I was a mother, I was able to teach day or night, weekdays or weekends.  I taught a credit load equal to a full-time instructor.  My income still wasn't much, but it was fairly steady.

Since Emmie was born, my availability at work has changed.  We made the choice for me to stay home with her, so Bruce works full time during the week, and I teach now on nights and weekends.  This has severely limited the amount of classes at both schools.  Sometimes I get offered a Monday night class at both schools - and then I can only choose one.  Teaching online has made up for some of the difference, but it's still a struggle from term to term, not knowing what my financial contribution will be.

Summers are the worst.  For the past two years, my summer classes have been cancelled due to low enrollment.  Losing out on my source of income contributed to our decision to move in with Bruce's parents in 2012.  I have just one class lined up for this summer, and thus far no one has signed up for it.  

I'm taking measures to do what I can: talking with the purse store manager about summer employment, applying for jobs at online universities (not the most credible schools, but I'll take what I can get).  I've even requested a faculty web page at my school, in the hopes that a page with my picture and profile might solicit more student interest in taking my courses.  If approved, I would be the only adjunct in my department with a web page.

Apparently, I'm not alone in the struggle.  Below is a link to an article by Josh Boldt, a contributing editor at Vitae, in which the summer plight of adjuncts is compiled.  A couple of my tweets are featured:

A Summer Survival Guide for #adjuncts. Tweets included from many who contributed to this crowdsourced discussion. https://t.co/slAHR0gF4m
— Josh Boldt (@josh_boldt) April 15, 2014

It's a travesty of the higher education system that full-time faculty and administrators receive considerable salaries while many other instructors fret over how the bills will get paid.  I am planning on writing a more comprehensive post on my adjunct experience, but that will most likely have to wait until after my current class ends.  By May, I might have plenty of free time on my hands.