Financal Issues facing Full-Time Professors

By Rohan Gupta

In undergraduate education, some full-time professors are responsible for teaching introductory courses with large groups of students. These individuals are most likely junior members of college faculty and probably have very little tenure. They are among, if not the most, hard working members of the college faculty and the current recession severely increased the inequality between the amount of hours they invest into academics and their income and benefits. Though one would expect universities to provide these professors with reasonable earnings that reflect their hard work and education, the amount of aid that they receive is so little that they are reconsidering their future.

In contrast to full-time faculty members, part-time college professors or adjuncts usually do not receive the same salary and benefits and also do not work for building credentials or tenure like them. The current recession has brought the two groups on the same financial level. Usually part-time individuals have to suffice with low pay, no security, and the mere fact that they do not have a full time job. Many full-time professors now cope with similar problems even though they are not in their situation.

Professors who teach freshman English Composition at the University of Illinois in Chicago are currently notorious for their large efforts and little compensation. They are suffering from these problems and are trying to find better options to survive in the current economic climate. Such professors may go back to school and earn a different or more specialized degree in English in order to obtain a better lifestyle. The new education may be doctorate level training or a different type of degree that mandates teaching English to non-native speakers. It will not be surprising if full-time professors in other fields who are in similar financial turmoil resort to these measures in order make decent earnings. Such a shift in education may create a new level of training that is required to live well; degrees that were thought to provide an individual with a basis to survive will now only be stepping stones to a higher level of training.