To the editor:

Some of my comments to the Government of the Student Body Senate were in the Feb. 24 Daily and I’d like to clarify some of them.

I addressed the working conditions in the English Department (not all departments experience the exact shortages, but many are similar). After I spoke to the Senate, a GSB Senator asked that any comments from the gallery be limited to only the tenure aspect of the petition. Tenure is not only what is at stake here, but undergraduate education. The conditions of temporary instructors IS relevant, as it shows that the administration tries to accomplish teaching as cheaply as possible so funds can be directed elsewhere.

I was quoted as saying I don’t have the chance to do research and that if I don’t get it done, I’m “out of here” in five years. Two related items are tied up here, and I don’t want the situation to be misunderstood.

My contract reads that my appointment is a: short-term appointment, normally not in the budget, made to meet a special staffing need within the department. They may be made at any rank but are normally at the instructor or assistant professor level. They are often for only one semester, and normally for no longer than one year. A temporary appointment is not considered to be service in a probationary period leading to tenure, since it is normally not renewable.

By the very definition of temporary instructor, my responsibility is primarily teaching. Teaching has been my singular goal since I was a child. The problem is that in order to remain competitive and keep my job, it is viewed favorably by the department if I have “publications related to teaching areas.”

This is difficult to do with a full load of teaching each semester. One might ask if I could do some research over the summer. No. My salary is split over the academic year, so I earn nothing in the summer and must work another job in order to make ends meet.

What has been understandably misinterpreted by the Daily reporter is that if I don’t produce any research in five years, I will lose my job. This is not the case. Getting published will help me keep my job year to year, but even if I do, I will lose my job in five years, just because I have hit the five year limit.

All temporaries, regardless of their records, are prohibited from full-time employment with the university after five years. It is true that I have been recognized for excellence in teaching, as have many of my colleagues in other departments.

The question I have for the administration is, if you are TRULY concerned about education at this university, what sense does it make to release excellent teachers simply because they have reached an arbitrary five year limit? What corporation would release good employees because they’ve worked for the corporation for five years?

In terms of working conditions, I share a single phone line with 10 other people, who also have approximately 80 students each.

This semester, temporary instructors (TIs) and grad students housed in Landscape Architecture were blessed with new computers.

We are very appreciative; however, there are still some problems. One G-4 is not in use, and the three PCs do not print.

The numbers I gave GSB were off. The number of people using the computers is closer to 60. Still, the number speaks for itself.

Finally, I addressed salary and benefits of temporary instructors across the university. I brought a Burger King ad announcing management openings. Assistant managers have a starting salary of $24,000 – $34,000 plus benefits. That is better than many of my colleagues across the university.

The math department is combining some smaller classes into larger lecture classes because its teaching budget is “too high.”

Clearly, the university is trying to “do” education as cheaply as possible. This should concern ALL students and faculty.

Dr. Frank Hummer issued a challenge to Dr. Jischke and the administration two weeks ago to hold an open forum to discuss issues related to temporary faculty.

To my knowledge, this challenge has gone unanswered. I would like to second Dr. Hummer’s challenge and add another.

I challenge the administration to recognize that temporary faculty fill a consistent teaching need, create a tier of permanent teaching faculty whose primary function is teaching and bring us ALL to the base level of a general manager at Burger King.

Suzanne Guess, M.A.

Temporary instructor

English