Jesse Rappaport is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College and Baruch College. He teaches philosophy, a subject also he studies. “I didn’t have the passion for teaching, but it was something I pursued,” he said. However, Rappaport faced a major problem last year—going broke. Rappaport is one of many adjuncts in CUNY who are unable to make a living teaching because of low pay, excessive work and lack of support. In 1975, 11,300 full-time professors taught CUNY students. Now, less than 8,000 are employed, according to the CUNY Adjunct Project. The roles are now filled by adjuncts. An adjunct often works part-time. At CUNY, they cannot teach more than three…
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Adjunct colloquium on plagiarism offers ideas for reform
A Sept. 27 adjunct colloquium on academic integrity and plagiarism allowed adjuncts a platform to raise concerns about their work environment and how it affects their dealings with plagiarism. Queens College’s first ever adjunct colloquium — hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning — focused on an adjunct’s perspective on the issue of plagiarism on campus and how their treatment of the issue tends to differ from that of the full-time faculty. Adjunct professor Kenneth Ryesky, who has been teaching business law and taxation at QC for 19 years, was a featured speaker at the event, along with Emanuel Avila from student affairs. Adjuncts face obstacles when dealing with…
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Adjuncts want more as negotiations continue
Upon renewal of the current adjunct health care plan effective Sept. 30, adjuncts in Queens College still have wide ranging opinions on working conditions and monetary compensation. One they all agree on though, is that more could be done to accommodate the increasing number of adjuncts at the university. In a report compiled by the American Federation of Teachers in 2010, nearly three fourths of college professors across the U.S. are adjuncts. In QC, the most recent survey, referred to in the Adjunct Task Force report, compiled by the Adjunct Task Force – A QC based initiative aiming to highlight issues adjuncts face – states that adjunct faculty members outnumbered…