Season 2: #3 - Maria Maisto, New Faculty Majority

Topics Discussed in this EpisodeMany contingent faculty become adjuncts unwittingly because the topic has not been discussed frankly in the profession.States and state laws can prevent contingent faculty from unionizing.Contingent faculty are routinely put in a difficult position because they are underpaid and are not given the support they need to serve an increasingly vulnerable student population.New Faculty Majority was established as a new kind of advocacy organization, working alongside but distinctly from unions and professional organizations.Social media played a significant role in New Faculty Majority, for community building and having a voice.Higher ed has spent a lot time ignorant and in denial of the adjunct labor problem.We are starting to see solidarity from tenured faculty and administrators, so attitudes are changing.Tenure for the Common Good is an important organization that raises awareness of contingent faculty issues.Faculty can be resistant to thinking about academic work as work and thinking of themselves as being in solidarity with other workers in the economy.How tenure-track faculty can support contingent faculty is a controversial question, as there are those within the movement who want to make sure their voices are heard.Contingent faculty have few resources--in terms of financial resources, time, and energy--which tenured faculty do have.Advancing the profession must, by definition, entail advocating for the most vulnerable members of the profession.Tenure-track faculty must educate themselves on labor issues.Tenure line faculty can also support contingent faculty when they apply for unemployment by helping contingent faculty prove to state unemployment agencies that they don't have reasonable assurance of continued employment.Tenure line faculty could organize a national walkout and build solidarity around that expression of risk.People working in higher education are fundamentally decent and have a role to play in society, preserving and protecting democracy.If we can make better connections with what's happening outside the academy, there are opportunities to make a difference and to transform the academy.Resources Discussed in This EpisodeJohns Hopkins University PressNew Faculty MajorityAssociation of American Colleges and UniversitiesAmerican Conference of Academic DeansTenure for the Common GoodCarolyn BetenskyAssociation of American University ProfessorsOne Faculty Campaign