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Most colleges now employ part-time faculty but fail to keep them satisfied with good wages. These professors also called adjunct professors have many issues including unsatisfactory working conditions and poor wages.

These issues that have been brewing for some time now have surfaced. According to a survey conducted by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce in 2010, non-tenured faculty enjoy no job security or benefits and earn only around $2700 for a three-credit course. Full-time faculty in comparison earn anywhere between $47,000 and $116,000 a year.

To avoid paying faculty for health insurance, certain colleges decided to cut down on hours of adjuncts and course loads. Tensions escalated because of this move even as colleges will require providing for employee health coverage for those working for over 30 hours a week as per the federal Affordable Care Act.

Universities that are unable to carry the burden of millions of dollars in health care are forced to cut adjunct hours for faulty. This move by the University of Akron has resulted in protests by the newly formed advocacy group Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association.

This demonstration also attracted adjuncts from the North Canton based Stark State College whose working hours were limited to 29 hours a week to avoid paying health benefits. The 29 hours include preparation time for classes, answering student emails and grading.

While the Lakeland Community College has limited its part-time faculty hours to 29, the Baldwin Wallace University limits it to nine credit hours per semester. Apart from the unreasonable limiting of hours, other grievances include poor wages and lack of any bargaining rights.

With eroding state support for educational institutions, there is an increasing need for universities to use adjuncts. Like employers, universities and colleges are looking for enhanced flexibility. For example, no one wants to employ a 30 year old tenured faculty with a prospective fifty year job assurance.

Employing part-time faculty is especially more in community colleges. Full-time faculty numbers are shrinking with many PhD’s replacing them on part-time options. Some adjuncts try to supplement their income teaching a couple of courses even as they continue with other jobs.

The prospect for most adjuncts however continues to be dim. Even with eight or more courses through the year, they are unable to earn anything more than $20,000. Kent State University associate professor William Sledzik says that colleges are forced to maximize profit by keeping labor costs minimal.

There is another issue regarding quality of education as pointed out by experts. Using a number of part-time faculties to cut down on costs on a continuous basis reflects on the graduation rates as there is no complete control over the quality of education.

A lot of universities and colleges are exploring federal health care law implications and continue to try out various cost saving initiatives. The need of the hour is to work out a feasible solution that balances between faculty salary, benefits and quality of education. It is time to re-group and ensure quality, affordable education for our students as this is the only way we can progress economically as a nation.