MATC Part-time Faculty

Perhaps anonymous could come out of the shadows? ...

2010-07-18T08:08:31.927-07:00

Perhaps anonymous could come out of the shadows? Your anonymity is somewhat suspect.

It is no less unprofessional, threatening or truth...

2010-07-15T17:41:51.110-07:00

It is no less unprofessional, threatening or truthful then correspondence I have received as a part-time instructor. I am happy with my raise and that I can teach two classes to supplement by main income and build upon my professional development. I urge other union members to call for a vote. If the vote fails then we can go back to the drawing board.

Let the membership vote please!!!!!

2010-07-14T08:13:27.806-07:00

Let the membership vote please!!!!!

This kind of information is very limited on intern...

2010-07-09T00:53:52.994-07:00

This kind of information is very limited on internet. Nice to find the post related to my searching criteria. Your updated and informative post will be appreciated by blog loving people.

Dissertation Conclusion

Keep up the great work Mike! We are behind you 10...

2010-07-08T21:13:55.292-07:00

Keep up the great work Mike! We are behind you 100%. Thanks to all the union members who have been working so hard on behalf of the part time faculty. Hang in there.

Wayne State's (Detroit) part-time faculty unio...

2010-05-03T11:39:28.009-07:00

Wayne State's (Detroit) part-time faculty union is behind you all the way! In solidarity, Raye Robertson.

Congrats, Local 6100.

2010-04-28T10:12:30.487-07:00

Congrats, Local 6100.

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of info...

2010-03-02T06:43:36.604-08:00

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
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Software Dissertation

I have never met Sue, but I want to thank her so m...

2010-01-10T05:59:09.481-08:00

I have never met Sue, but I want to thank her so much for writing that letter! We should all be writing letters, I guess.

I am surprised that I haven't seen wage compar...

2009-12-16T06:54:26.513-08:00

I am surprised that I haven't seen wage comparisons between MATC part-time instructors and Edgewood, Lakeland, Upper Iowa, etc, part-time instructor's pay. Perhaps this has been in the press and I just did not see it. Does anybody know this information? If the wages are higher at those institutions, I would think it would help our cause.

I tweet constantly, so if you need any help with t...

2009-12-04T10:08:11.896-08:00

I tweet constantly, so if you need any help with this, let me know. -Carl (@carlstewart)

I wonder what Bettsey Barhorst really thinks of al...

2009-10-16T12:39:42.157-07:00

I wonder what Bettsey Barhorst really thinks of all this? It's hard to believe that she's got the 'let them eat cake' attitude, but quotes with words like hobbyist are hard to defend.

I am a part time instructor for MATC. I attended ...

2009-10-15T13:13:35.200-07:00

I am a part time instructor for MATC. I attended the protest. While our turn out was small, the part time instructors are 1,400 strong. Some could not attend because they receive such low pay from MATC that they have to work additional jobs. First of all, Jon Anderson skews the facts. The part time union is mindful of the economy. We are not asking for a raise. In fact, we have requested to freeze wages. We are asking for job security, for the security of the ACE program, for the wage gap between full time and part time instructors to cease, and for respect from administration. I invite Channel 27 News to take a tour of the Part Time Faculty Office room 216 at the Truax campus. Visit the overcrowded closet that is called an office where approximately 1,400 part time faculty are allowed to squat at one of the 13 desks(only 11 of which have working computers). We have to purchase our own software. Not only are we required to have advanced degrees, but we are required to take additional courses from the Wisconsin College Technical College System. It is unpaid training. The President of MATC hasn’t taken all of the required certification classes.
Without the additional training, I spend 25-35 hours a week on a part time job that I love: teaching. If I’m lucky, I’ll receive $10,000 this year. I do not have any health benefits. I just received BadgerCare. I’m poor enough to receive food stamps, but I don’t ask for them. We are as qualified as full time staff. We stand in solidarity with our full time faculty. We pick up classes at the last foreseeable moment with an overflow of students (approximately 14% increase in enrollment this semester). We rearrange other jobs around so we can continue to do what we love: teaching. In our current request, we are asking for consideration in regard to scheduling of classes.MATC loves to put students first. In fact, if it weren’t for part time teachers who pick up at least 35% of the current teaching load, our students wouldn’t’ be able to take the classes they do. If MATC wants to focus on the needs of students, they must take a long, hard look at the way they treat part time instructors. MATC needs to stop being a revolving door for qualified instructors, over 30% of whom leave MATC for other opportunities. If MATC cares so much about the education of its students, it will do what it can to retain the qualified professional educators they employ. It costs thousands of dollars to train part time employees each semester. It costs students even more. Dr. Bettsey Barhorst has called part time instructors “dabblers” and implied that we are, in some unknown manner, baseball players who are not qualified enough to play in the “major leagues.” Put students first. Treat part time instructors with the appropriate respect we deserve. The benefits are immeasurable.

MATC Partimers.... Well of course, after 12 years ...

2009-10-07T20:36:54.582-07:00

MATC Partimers....
Well of course, after 12 years of post-graduate education, a BA Northwestern (Buddhism), BA and MA Cambridge University (Theology), MDiv (Ministry - three year degree) at Univ Chicago and a PhD UW- Madison in the old and once great Buddhist Studies Dept. (7 years) (We had so many Asian and American grad students in the good old days). As Geshe Sopa once said, one should get training in Buddhism for truth, not for a job. I took that to heart. I remain in town, for, unlike the Buddha, I cannot bear to leave my children in divorce, for a job. Sorry! Family values here! I could be working at Carolina Coastal College, sitting on the beach, full-time, healthcare, oh! The works! But I am not, because of my children in town. When they graduate high school, then I am off to India! For now, I have loved serving the really fun and outspoken MATC students. Too bad! The administration is so way uncooler than its own students! Barhorst has persuaded me to just look around online. Online is the future, like it or not. Hey! The telegraph is gone! So is the face-to-face teacher, like it not! MATC simply fails to innovate with these outrageous high salaries for out-dated teaching techniques. I hope to make that all the more clear through my YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/MATCPartTimeUnion Enjoy! Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, dabbler, world philosophies and religions, especially dabbling at Buddhism

Amanda, In general, I agree with your sentiments a...

2009-10-07T13:35:46.048-07:00

Amanda,
In general, I agree with your sentiments and took some consideration before posting. However, we must be very careful to avoid any support of lowing f/t wages. As you said, it is not in our interest to compete.
Also, buckleywheatstone's last sentence "It's high time the MATC board act in the community's interests rather than their union friends' interests." really struck a nerve. There seems to be an anti-union undercurrent that we should also be wary of.
It is great to have empathy regarding our low wages, but we must take care in choosing the route by which the situation may be rectified. Buckleywheatstone's heart may be in the right place, but he's travelling down the wrong road to get us where we need to be.

Is there a way for community members to request/aq...

2009-10-07T12:38:03.805-07:00

Is there a way for community members to request/aquire yard signs? Maybe another yard sign post, with contact info or instructions on how to get them, for our supporters.

I know I have seen yard signs for sale (for other causes) at places like Willy Street Co-op. What's our means of distribution?

I didn't catch on to the nasty accusations in ...

2009-10-07T12:28:27.928-07:00

I didn't catch on to the nasty accusations in this post. Granted, as part-timers, we don't have any problem with the compensation of the full-time teachers. And it certainly isn't in our interest whatsoever to be in competition or at odds with our full-time colleagues. We are all on the same team! The problem for part-timers is, why are we treated as second-class, third-class or fourth-class team members?

This blogger points out that we have the same education and work requirements, but the difference in pay is "mind-boggling." I totally agree!

Every one is entitled to their unique point of view and "angle" on the topic, but I would not describe this post as a "detractor." I think on many points this blogger describes the PT situation accurately, and agrees that our compensation is too little, and not fair. The fact that he proposes a different solution does not make him (or her) a detractor.

Please, let's not alienate our potential supporters (or anyone for that matter) by labeling them as a detractor. This blogger does not appear to despise our union or our cause, and is actually doing us a favor by helping to get the word out! Name-calling is not going to help our cause, so can we get this blog post taken out of the "detractor" category?

In solidarity,
: ) Amanda

It's been my experience that part-time faculty...

2009-10-06T07:45:03.632-07:00

It's been my experience that part-time faculty are the backbone of any higher ed institution. Showing fairness in compensation is one way to show them that MATC would be lost without them.

i just rec'd this email from a student: Maybe...

2009-10-05T18:28:19.647-07:00

i just rec'd this email from a student: Maybe if we sent these kinds of messages "en masse" to our Prez she would have a clue as to hard and dedicated all us "hobby teachers" are.

Dear _____,
"I just wanted to let you know that I think that you are a great teacher. I feel that I have learned a lot of interesting things over these past few weeks with being in your class. I find nothing wrong with any of the ways you are teaching our class, in fact I think everything is really great so far this semester.

I studied very hard and days in advance for the first exam, which was really hard for me since I have never really 'studied' in high school. I had a lot of anxiety prior to the test because I wasn't a very successful test-taker in high school, but I had calmed myself before coming to class knowing that I studied hard and put forth a lot of effort into learning the material...

I think that some of the reasons I was so successful were because you are very engaging when you lecture, which makes me pay more attention to the information being put out even though it might not seem like I'm very attentive.

I just wanted you to know that I think the ways that you teach are great and there's nothing I would change about how you teach. Thank you for all the hard work you put forth in class, because I could imagine that it's not very easy."