Horror Stories
Horror Stories from Adjuncts





Policies

Light at the end of the Tunnel
That it is so difficult to get Adjuncts to tell their stories is evidence enough of the climate of fear and intimidation here at SRJC. We have to recognize the reality of informal control mechanisms that keep Adjunct Instructors in their place:

a) Many Adjuncts want full-time jobs. If they are conspicuous in their dissent, there are numerous ways they can be weeded out in the hiring process.
b) Department Heads and Departments will target Adjuncts. Techniques include outright loss of classes, assignment to marginal classes and/or awkward schedules.
c) The Contract leaves plenty of loopholes to maintain the "discretion" of Department Heads and Campus Administrators.
d) The Grievance process relies on the "Swiss cheese" legalisms of the Contract. It's not a reliable source of protection.
e) Campus government (AFA, the Academic Senate and the IPC) have little or no Adjunct representation. With few (but important and wildly appreciated) exceptions, Adjuncts have scant hope of getting their issues through the filter of Full-time Instructors.

The good news is that "the Court of Public Opinion" has higher standards. There are many people at SRJC who understand where Social Darwinism and mental disconnect have led us as a society (though it's still a shock when the "King of the Jungle" wakes up to find out that he or she is just another piece of the eco-system). And all people have an innate sense of right and wrong and fairness. It's not a perfect world, but if we wait for the rest of the world to "get it" before we do anything, we are in for a long wait (that is unless we all go under first).

So what about the anonymity issue? It is preferable for people to identify themselves, but is it really unethical to remain anonymous in the face of power? You have families, jobs and mortgages to protect afterall. Yet, it is also unethical to not tell your stories. Adjuncts have remained isolated in their exploited condition because they have not networked in the face of administrators and co-opted full-time instructors for whom maintenance of an academic underclass serves the purposes of the institution - not the students to whom we claim we serve.

You are a part-time instructor only in the eyes of my institution and full-time colleagues.
To your students you are full time!!
Like gays and lesbians - you must come "out of the closet."
Like African-Americans - you must be self-defined.
Like UPS workers, you must say "no."
Our heroes are not in the ivory towers - they are out there in the land of the people we presume to "teach."
Confront the ways in which the dominant institutions have defined you and take the labels back!! The battle is the same; it's only morphed into a new guise. Two/thirds of California workers are now known by the euphemism "non-traditional" worker.
Your battle is their battle and vice versa.
Above all - you must be visible in any way you can.
YOU MUST TELL YOUR STORIES!!!!!


In light of this and with a great deal of thought, the editors have decided on the following policy:

We prefer and strongly encourage authorship, but we will accept stories without authorship as long as the basic facts are verifiable. Stories without bylines will be investigated. Sources will not be divulged without consent. Rebuttals by the people involved will be accepted and published. It is in the interests of Adjuncts to maintain the credibility of this newsite by reporting the facts and leaving motives and judgement up to the readership.

As a de facto oversight mechanism, this website is of vital importance in providing Adjuncts with a news source out of the control of Administration and Campus Government until such time as substantive reform is implimented. It intends to ferociously protect its integrity as a source of truth, not gossip. It looks forward to the day when it is no longer needed.



(submitted 10/23/99 by an Adjunct who wishes to remain anonymous at this time)

Story #1   Marty Bennett is a full-time History Instructor in the Social Science Dept. Though he sounds liberal, sounds like he is for the underdog, he has consistently taken advantage of his position as a tenured FT teacher at SRJC to abuse Adjuncts whenever he feels so inclined. He is a perfect example of NIMBYism and one who does not walk his talk.

Two years ago the Department of Social Sciences voted to share reader funds alloted by the administration with ALL members of the department, based on student load, not on whether one was PT or FT. Marty Bennett called a part-time adjunct history teacher at home, against explicit orders from the Department Chair, to tell her that if she applied for and accepted any reader funds from the department budget, she risked getting negative evaluations, refusals to requests for letters of recommendation, and other negative and serious repercussions. She blew the whistle on him, but he used his position as a tenured FTer to evade any answer as to why he would so abuse his position.

Last spring he decided to take over 2 of the 4 sections of women's history that Jenna Brooke, Anne Donegan, and Gretchen Grufman have nurtured from one section to four in the last four years. In fact, Ms. Grufman risked loss of income to take the course to the Petaluma campus and get it on the schedule there. When Marty Bennett made his decision that he would now be the dominant women's history instructor, none of the women who had been promoting and teaching the courses were consulted; they had no input, and were told that they had no say in the matter. Why? None of them are FTers. Yes, that's right, three women PTers did all the work of creating the classes, coming up with texts, preparation, Title V, etc., and a FTer can just take it from them. He could NOT do this to another FTer. Prior to this take-over attempt, Marty actually lobbied to cut the number of women's history sections, claiming that they were taking the best students. Though these facts are not in dispute, the majority of full-timers in the Social Science Department have remained silent. Mr. Bennett has since been given one section of women's history. One to go.


  The rain, it raineth on the just
 and on the unjust fella;
 But chiefly on the just, because
 The unjust steals the just's umbrella.
                             Lord Byron
Editor's note: As per By Adjuncts/For Adjuncts' policy, though we did not submit the above story, the details have been researched and are basically correct. This website, therefore, stands behind the author and his/her claims. The Editors encourage Marty Bennett to submit his side of the story. We only require that he limit himself to the points raised above: Did you or did you not do these things? Are there mitigating circumstances perhaps or a context not being presented?
(Mr. Bennett was notified by letter of the above story 10/27/99. He has chosen not to respond)

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