SJSU professor living out of car

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Travelmonkey

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Cool project! The prof may not be tenued. If she’s an associate/assistant Prof her salary is way way less.
 
That's one of the most out of control housing cost areas in the U.S.

Rents have been skyrocketing for 3-4 decades now, while real wages at the low end have been falling.

Good stats here http://nlihc.org/oor
 
John61CT said:
That's one of the most out of control housing cost areas in the U.S.

Rents have been skyrocketing for 3-4 decades now, while real wages at the low end have been falling.

Good stats here http://nlihc.org/oor

I'm from the Bay Area and am familiar with rents in downtown SJ specifically.  In my estimation, rents have doubled in the last 20 years.  That's 3 to 4 percent annually over that period of time.  I'm not sure how rent control works in other areas, but in San Jose rent increases are limited to 5 percent annually (I believe there are previsions in place to "catch up" if there was no increase the year prior).  I'm not sure how one would address rents given the info above; I don't think it is reasonable to "freeze" rents completely.  Landlords have expenses that increase too.

On the wages side, the low end minimum wage in San Jose is currently $13.50/hr and will be $15/hr Jan 2019.  Minimum wage was $5.75 in 1998.  Almost tripled in 20 years.  Small business owners will be paying unskilled workers $30k/yr for a full time worker.  My neighbor owns a small chain of noodle restaurants and will be paying dishwashers $15/hr.  That doesn't seem sustainable.  I have to believe many of these unskilled jobs will be replaced by automation.  I think the answer for most should be to get skills; be dependable, learn on the job and outside, and use your current job to get your next at a high level over time.  If one depends on the state to give a raise  (through minimum wage increases), one may find themselves price out of the market...  

And finally, regarding the article [font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]https://www.npr.org/2013/09/22/224946206...rks-debate [/font]it's very sad story.  Cancer sucks.  But I don't think her circumstances are entirely the university's fault.  She worked in that part time position for 25 years.  Why was she surprised she didn't qualify for a pension?  At some point, she should have moved on but she didn't.  Was the university supposed to grant a tenured position for a subject that probably had very little demand (she was a prof of french).  She died at 83 so that means she probably started teaching in her 50's.  That means she had around 25 years before she started teaching to potentially have another career (that could have provided for retirement).  I don't see how unionizing could help in her case...

So the TL;DR version would be:  renting in the Bay Area is expensive increases over time have been less than rent control.  Unskilled need to learn skills now.  Don't be a prof of french at a small college .
 
I am positive adjunct professors make a lot more than that ($20k) in that city. I'm dating an adjunct professor who works part time in San Diego and makes a crazy amount of money for the time spent. Unfortunately housing prices in San Diego are so high she has little money left over herself. To be honest, I am appalled by just how much they get paid.

Moving is the answer btw, Arizona has a huge teachers shortage, so much in fact they are hiring anyone with a bachelors degree and will allow them the time to get certified.
 
A civilized country would ensure that anyone working full-time could afford raising a family in at least dignity if not comfort.

Yes restaurant pricing would go way up, so be it.
 
Travelmonkey said:
l regarding the article [font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]https://www.npr.org/2013/09/22/224946206...rks-debate [/font]it's very sad story.  Cancer sucks.  But I don't think her circumstances are entirely the university's fault.  She worked in that part time position for 25 years.  Why was she surprised she didn't qualify for a pension?  At some point, she should have moved on but she didn't.  Was the university supposed to grant a tenured position for a subject that probably had very little demand (she was a prof of french).  She died at 83 so that means she probably started teaching in her 50's.  That means she had around 25 years before she started teaching to potentially have another career (that could have provided for retirement).  I don't see how unionizing could help in her case...

So the TL;DR version would be:  renting in the Bay Area is expensive increases over time have been less than rent control.  Unskilled need to learn skills now.  Don't be a prof of french at a small college .

That university charged over $30k a year in base tuition the year she died. They were paying their adjuncts about $2500 per semester per three credit course at that time. Do the math. In a class of 20- 30 students, only one student in her class was paying her salary. Where was the rest of the money going? At the time of her death 51 percent of undergraduate courses at that school were taught by adjunct, contingent faculty. Why are so many unwilling to look at the questionable employment practices of a university that proudly advertises itself as a "Catholic values" institution? What about their non-profit status and the numerous tax-exemptions they get? This isn't a for-profit entity. They are, in various ways, subsidized based on the understanding that they do "good" that for-profits might not. Yet, we blame the worker.

The other thing people ignore is that this is systemic. The entire industry of higher education is moving toward adjunct reliance to provide the bulk of instruction. It's easy to say, "Why don't you quit or move?" but when 90% of an industry engages in similar employment practices, its not so easy. In the 1980s, the national average at 4 year colleges/universities was about 70% faculty were tenured/tenure stream. Now, the national average has flipped. 70% of faculty are contingent contract workers, full or part-time, but still adjuncts, usually paid a fraction of tenured faculty and without benefits. The only place where adjunct faculty are not the new majority is in the more elite public and private schools, which are also the most expensive schools. The only place where adjunct faculty are paid reasonably well is where there are strong faculty unions.

Finally, the adjunct prof in the article that started this thread was referred to as someone who taught  both literature and "critical thinking". 
"Critical thinking" is higher ed speak (which the journalist doesn't understand fully) for a teacher who teaches the basic liberal arts requirement courses everyone has to take, the ones tasked with teaching students to think, read, and write critically /analytically. These are higher order thinking/analytical skills that employers demand and we, as a society, need from them. It's these very basic, important courses that are largely taught by adjuncts. The idea that all these poorly paid adjuncts are teaching classes with no student demand or practical value/purpose is false. The overwhelming majority teach the basics. 

Maybe I ought to ask my department to let me teach, "How To Live In a Van?"
 
Itripper said:
I am positive adjunct professors make a lot more than that  ($20k) in that city. I'm dating an adjunct professor who works part time in San Diego and makes a crazy amount of money for the time spent.  Unfortunately housing prices in San Diego are so high she has little money left over herself. To be honest, I am appalled by just how much they get paid.

Moving is the answer btw, Arizona has a huge teachers shortage, so much in fact they are hiring anyone with a bachelors degree and will allow them the time to get certified.

Are you considering the 8 years of higher education, the time spent researching/writing/publishing to receive your credentials and continue to stay qualified to teach in your subject area? Time spent on instruction is only one part of a professor's job. Lots of jobs look easy, if you only look at the surface or have a limited view.

Also, one example in another city at another school doesn't prove anything. I know people working at Bay Area colleges who only got paid about $5k per semester per three credit class. Their full-time wages would be about $30k per year. Those, like yours, are anecdotal examples, but look into the broader statistical/factual picture and you'll see that its not surprising an adjunct professor can't afford an apartment. There are certainly exceptions, usually at elite schools or where there is a strong faculty union, but the vast majority are making lousy wages. This is especially troubling in places where housing is super-expensive, which is also happens to be where many colleges/universities are located, in large metropolitan areas. 

If teaching K-12 in Arizona is a such a great gig, why don't all the people pointing to that example sign up to teach? Hmmm.
 
I was a state university faculty member for 40 years. Because someone knows the salary of one adjunct or the average salaries of professors generally it doesn't mean you know this person's. The adjunct world is very market driven. That's the only reason there are adjunct positions, to save money so it can be spent elsewhere.  So, if it takes more money in some fields to find adjuncts, universities have to pay it. If not, they don't.

At the bottom in salaries are adjuncts in the social sciences, arts and humanities. Those are the fields of this couple, as I understood the article. They are often paid by the course, fewer courses less pay. I'm just guessing $20-$40,000 annually. Anyone making a living in adjunct teaching competes with people who have day jobs and pick up one to two courses. Part time people will teach for less.
 
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