LAST semester, an acquaintance taught, as adjunct faculty, a course at a very well-known and probably the best public sector university in the country. The ‘per hour’ payment that he was given a contract for was quite low. More surprisingly, he mentioned that he was not paid anything during the entire semester; the accounts office told him that he would be paid after the end of the semester (more than three months), when he had submitted all the grades and other paperwork.

When he went to the office after he had submitted the grades, he was told by one of the clerks that he would certainly get the full payment. However, the clerk could not tell him when the payment would be made. The clerk mentioned that adjuncts from the previous semester had not been paid yet, and was of the opinion that it could be a few months or even longer before payment was made.

This took place at a top university in the country. Clearly, being adjunct faculty is not a good career option: even if payment had been made on time — the gentleman was teaching a number of courses — he would have had trouble maintaining a decent standard of living. With payments being delayed and universities passing on their own working capital unevenness in this manner, it becomes even more difficult to be adjunct or visiting faculty. The gentleman in question has serious doubts about sticking to academia; it would not be a surprise if he swit­ched careers. It will be a loss for academia, as he is very passionate about teaching and resea­­rch, but it is........

© Dawn