Privatizing Public Education
by Renee McGarry
On March 4 at 4 p.m., the Adjunct Project and a large group of students will march on Governor David Paterson’s Manhattan office. This will be a part of our effort to participate in the National Day of Action to Defend Education. We want you to join us in both the protest outside of the Graduate Center and the […]
The Collapse of the Tenure Track
by Alison Powell
Recently, a subcommittee of the Committee on Contingent Faculty and the Profession disseminated a report on the dire state of tenure-track positions in American universities. Considering that by 2007, almost 70 percent of faculty members were employed off the tenure track, it has become crystal clear that the original goal of tenure — established to ensure adequate compensation and […]
Where’s the Anger?
by Renee McGarry
Forgive me if you’ve heard this one before. On September 11, 2009 I passed my second exam and advanced to candidacy. On September 10, 2009, I was told I wasn’t going to receive my first paycheck until October 8, 2009. I also discovered that about 150 graduate assistants — through no fault of their own — were in the same situation.
Rather than spending […]
Teacher Pay Around the World
by Alison Powell
Just a week ago, the New York Times featured an article in their “Economix” blog: “Teacher Pay around the World” (Sept. 9, 2009, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/teacher-pay-around-the-world/). The article presents a mass of statistics collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) about education around the world, focusing on how the United States measures up. As it turns […]
Stifling the Economy of Ideas
by Renee McGarry
Sometimes data and statistics fail us. I work in the humanities so I’m not entirely surprised to say this, but I was shocked when I saw the data released in a recent report by the American Association of University Professors on the Economic Status of the Profession. Swimming in charts and graphs, it looked as if academics were faring […]
Naming the Problem
by Renee McGarry
Adjuncting RENEE McGARRY
They say when it hits the New York Times Sunday Style section you know the trend is over, and probably has been for at least a year. I have a distinct memory of such an event, the moment when the Style section did a photo essay on Doc Martens. I think it was 1995, and if I know the […]
Free Choice and Adjunct Equity
by Renee McGarry
In a news conference on Friday, January 30, Mayor Bloomberg announced what many are referring to as his doomsday budget. This included one billion dollars in budget cuts, the core of which calls for laying off over 23,000 city workers. According to Bloomberg, the majority of these workers will be New York City public school teachers — as […]
Budget Cuts, Tuition Hikes, and Job Insecurity
by Jessie Goldstein and Renee Mcgarry
RENEE MCGARRY AND JESSE GOLDSTEIN We heard it officially this week. The nation has been in a recession since 2007, and we’ve all witnessed CUNY feeling the pinch. Undoubtedly, there are times when we, as both students and adjuncts, feel powerless, and probably times when we feel scared and alarmed. Do we have to? And what […]
The Adjunct Project Wants you to Have More Money
by Jessie Goldstein and Renee Mcgarry
Students working on campus at their university are exempt from Social Security and Medicare Tax in the state of New York — as per IRC 3121(b)(10) and Section 218 Modification 242. We have confirmed this with the IRS and the New York State Social Security Administrator, Kevin Mack.
This exemption only holds for work done while you are enrolled […]
Graduate Student Health Insurance on the Way But Not For All
by Jessie Goldstein and Renee Mcgarry
Beginning in January 2009, many students at the Graduate Center will have access to health insurance through the NY State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP). Many of us have fought hard for this basic right, and it would seem that our efforts have been rewarded. The Adjunct Project is appreciative of all the hard work that […]
