The Rise of the Perma-Temp
Leslie Berger,
New York Times,
Aug 06, 2002
Following yesterday's special issue I had an engaging back and forth discussion with Tom Abeles about the mechanics of providing a quality eduction at commodity prices. The conversation turned to the use by such online institutions as the University of Phoenix of low-paid on-demand instructional staff. My reaction was that the use of low paid labour has long been an academic tradition, a view I hold with some authority having spent seven years in the ranks. So it is noteworthy that the New York Times raised the issue this week. The advantage, as the story notes, is that the use of adjunct professors substantially reduces an institution's payroll. But as Abeles suggested to me yesterday, the use of adjunct staff concentrates power in the hands of the university administration. Where are the professors, he asked? My response was simply that, as I have been told many times, the professors are the institution. Well, maybe it's not so straightforward. But the salient point is that much of what is being done to universities, up to and including the commodification of education, if being done by professors (with dollar signs in their eyes) to themselves.
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