Alex PattersonThis series is written anonymously by contract instructors at the University of Alberta. Unlike fully-tenured professors who have higher salaries and job security, contract or sessional instructors often have heavier course loads, must renew their contracts each year, and earn significantly less than what most tenured professors make. But even though working conditions as a contract instructor aren’t great, obtaining a tenure position isn’t easy.
Read The Gateway‘s feature on contract academic staff: https://thegatewayonline.ca/2016/11/contract-instructors-feature/
It should be clear by now that post-secondary academic employment is a two-tiered system, divided between those who are secure employment-wise and those who are vulnerable, those who are in the club and those who are not (or at least feel like they are not), those who know their place in the academy and those who huddle around the periphery. Hence the “peripheral” in the title; contract instructors live on the edges of what is “normal” for academics in Canada. Despite our commonalities with tenured colleagues, in terms of our academic qualifications and job responsibilities, based on our pay and work conditions it is hard to avoid concluding that we are less valuable as employees.
Before I go on, let me say that many of our tenured colleagues are decent folks who understand our situation and have empathy for us. We understand the importance of being collegial and conducting ourselves in a professional manner as academics. We have no desire to alienate tenured colleagues. At the same time, our situation can provoke strong, even visceral, reactions. We hope those with tenure will understand if the thoughts and emotions that our situation causes are sometimes less than congenial; perhaps some will even be able to put themselves in our shoes and to realize it’s more than a matter of stable employment or lack thereof.
So what is it that we lack that our tenured (or tenure-track) colleagues have? First and foremost, minimal job security: a minority of us are on multi-year contracts, but many of us have no idea what (if anything) we will be teaching in two to three terms. It is common to be called on to teach a course with minimal notice when a need arises and, despite the added stress this causes, we rarely say no to such requests. Put plainly, beggars cannot be choosers.
Another issue that many are unaware of is the disparity in levels of pay between permanent and contract academic employees. Tenured and tenure-track professors at the U of A typically teach 4 courses per academic year. Assistant professor salaries for 2016-17 range from about $77,300 to about $107,500. CAST teachers teaching 4 courses a year earn between about $24,400 and about $30,000. That is a ratio of more than 3:1 at the bottom rung of each pay scale, rising to well above 3.5:1 at the upper end. The CAST levels of pay require many of us to work in more than one university or college (if we are able to) or to seek other employment to top up our income. This is easier said than done, given the time needed to teach effectively.
The difference between the two academic employment classes is also evident in the lack of medical and other benefits for many of us, not to mention any sort of pension (certainly the case for those of us with short-term contracts). Add to that an inability for many of us to apply for employment insurance due to our contract status and the inevitable temporary office situations which most of us face (harder than you may think if you have nowhere else to keep your books, files and other academic accouterments when your contract ends). Next time, the emotional toll that this takes on us…
