DO YOU know who your teachers are? A recent study indicates that close to half of American college instructors in humanities disciplines are part-time - either graduate students or adjunct faculty. Students should be concerned about the quality of their instructors and about their university's exploitation of cheap labor.
The report, commissioned by the Coalition on the Academic Work Force reveals that part-time instructors teach nearly half of humanities courses and over half of introductory courses. It also indicates that most part-time instructors receive less than $3,000 per course and no benefits in exchange for their work.
This poor compensation generally translates to lower quality instructors. This isn't true in every case - teachers don't teach purely for the money. But they can't ignore the money either. The best instructors won't be satisfied with being paid nearly nothing to teach. On average, the old clich