Editorial Staff
The title of “college professor” carries an aura of comfort: the posh life of an academic. Such a general perception encourages the notion that, as members of a culture of higher education, professors are immune to the dangers of low pay and little regard. Undoubtedly, a considerable percentage of American college professors find their jobs rewarding — certainly more so than their counterparts working in less prestigious, often public realms of education, who are frequently forced to deal with financial uncertainty and a lack of support from institutional administration. Even within a private university like The New School, there is a clear division in the faculty between the haves and have-nots.
The New School tends to celebrate its storied history as a sanctuary for some of the most dynamic and significant minds of any college in the country. W.E.B DuBois, Martha Graham, Hannah Arendt, Frank Lloyd Wright, Woody Allen, Christopher Hitchens — the list could go on — at one time or another, all taught at The New School, and most were employed here as part-timers. While reporting for this month’s story on the state of faculty satisfaction at the university, the *Free Press* surveyed dozens of current faculty members, and learned that many part-time professors feel that their positions are not as tenable or lucrative as they would prefer. While The New School relies disproportionately on part-time faculty — with nearly 80 percent of instructors at the university identified as such — these academics’ earnings average at around $335 per week during the semester, according to research conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
While part-time and tenured professors alike maintain certain freedoms as far as what and how they are allowed to teach, there is a sentiment within the faculty that part-time members are a disposable workforce of sorts — a temporary solution, and indeed, compensated as such. In order for The New School to continue to attract a talented, high-caliber academic roster worthy of its storied past, it must, at the very least, offer competitive compensation that allows professors to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world. It should also provide a path to full-time employment for those part-time faculty members who strive for and deserve it. To do otherwise would betray the school’s stated vision of “redefining higher education,” as well as prove a disservice to the same students who provide an overwhelming 90 percent of the institution’s total revenue. The New School should set a precedent for other universities and uphold its own progressive values by making a bold investment in those without whom the university would be nothing — its teachers.
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