November 18, 2015
Page 9
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Dr. Wanda Evans-Brewer has been teaching for 20 years, has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a PhD in Education. She is also living in poverty, one of the edu-
cators featured in the documentary ‘Professors in Poverty,’ distributed by Brave New Films.
Professors in Poverty
Oregon adjuncts
relate to message
in new film
C hris t homas
About one-third of the part-tim-
ers teaching college courses are on
public assistance, according to a new
documentary that follows some part-
time or adjunct professors, at home
and on the job.
The message of Professors in Pov-
erty is resonating in Oregon, where
the trend also has been for schools to
eliminate full-time teaching positions
and restrict part-timers’ hours to by-
pass paying employee benefits.
It means Heather Toland has a lot
in common with her students, and
by
works a second job when she isn’t
teaching biology at Chemeketa Com-
munity College.
“They are all struggling and work-
ing really hard, too,” Toland said.
“It’s more about, ‘Yep, we’re all in
this together’ - that’s what it feels
like to me. We are dependent on Ore-
gon Health Plan for our health insur-
ance; thank goodness for it. It’s been
a rough, rough road.”
According to the video by nonprof-
it Brave New Films, adjunct profes-
sors’ average pay decreased by 49
percent from 1970 to 2008, while
college presidents’ salaries increased
by 35 percent during that time. The
American Association of University
Professors said half of all U.S. pro-
fessors are now adjuncts.
Traci Hodgson, a history profes-
sor who heads the faculty union at
Chemeketa, said some state lawmak-
ers assume people teach part-time be-
cause they want to - when it’s more
likely no full-time jobs are available.
“Many of them have an outdat-
ed notion of what a part-time faculty
member is, or they fall back on the
budget excuse,” she said. “At the same
time, we see more and more adminis-
trators being hired. Actually, to do it
well, to manage all those part-timers,
you need a lot of administrators.”
Geology professor Mariah Tilman,
who now works part-time in real es-
tate, said she hopes the film opens
more people’s eyes to the budget
challenges in higher ed and changes
some stereotypes.
“When you say you’re a profes-
sor at the college level, they assume
you’re making a lot of money,” said
Tilman. “We need to make it clear
that we’re not. I hesitate to blame the
college, because the college is work-
ing within the money that is given to
them by the state and the public.”
Other educators contacted for this
report said their health, morale and
careers all suffer with the part-time
teaching trend, but they try to keep it
from affecting their students.
Learn where you can see “Profes-
sors in Poverty” or host a screening
of the documentary by visiting brave-
newfilms.org. A trailer for the film is
also available online.
Chris Thomas is a reporter for
Oregon News Service.