Linette Garcia | Staff Writer
As students at FIU, we often meet many kinds of professors in our classrooms without realizing it: main professors, assistant teaching professors, associate professors, and so on and so forth. No matter who is educating us, as long as they are qualified and passionate enough to break down concepts, the title should not matter. However, there is a specific kind of “professor type” in the multiverse that isn’t really worth becoming—and that’s adjunct professors.
Currently, FIU has hired over 500 adjunct professors to teach its students each semester, and that’s really what sets an adjunct apart from a full-time educator. While most professors have a workload that is divided into teaching, services, and research all year round, adjunct professors’ contracts strictly ask for teaching per semester—it’s essentially a part-time position.
Many adjunct educators enjoy the benefits offered in this role; they bring real-world experience, academic desire, and deep subject-matter expertise to our learning spaces. Many FIU adjunct professors apply for these positions because they love to teach—not for prestige, but to make a difference. A love for the job doesn’t pay the bills.
This is where the worthiness of this position comes into play. The biggest difference between a regular professor’s role and an adjunct professor’s role is the massive compensation gap. According to Inside Higher Ed, adjunct faculty members historically have been paid roughly $3,000 per course, which can equate to as little as $13-$22 per hour despite the fact that these instructors hold advanced degrees and invest significant hours in course prep, grading, and student mentoring. Although the position is only temporary, adjunct lecturers receive no benefits and no job security, meaning they can’t be sure if they’ll have classes next term.
The equity in pay between professors doesn’t exist, and the lack of benefits is unattractive—I can’t seem to find a reason why adjunct professors continue to work at FIU with all these disadvantages.
It’s not sustainable. For a few adjuncts who are supplementing income, maybe. But for many who are seeking jobs to pay bills and put food on the table, this is just added stress. Teaching multiple courses at FIU isn’t enough to make a living wage in South Florida, which forces adjuncts to juggle multiple professions across industries just to survive. Some adjuncts also take on other adjunct positions at places like MDC or UM.
This model isn’t unique to FIU; it’s part of a larger national trend in higher education where contingent faculty make up the majority of teaching staff. Sure, it saves universities money in the short run, but educational quality is compromised when dedicated educators are sacrificing stability so that the institution can cut costs.
As one of Florida’s most well-known universities, FIU receives millions in donations. Instead of investing that money in futile statues and buildings, the school should fund its adjunct faculty members with high-quality pathways that offer fair wages and real appreciation for their work. A stable faculty would not only better support educators but ultimately enrich student learning.
Students benefit when teachers aren’t worrying about their economic state—their futures won’t be jeopardized when a recommendation or a mentorship is let go as soon as an academic term ends. Adjunct professors have begged for better working conditions for more than a decade now, and it’s time for FIU to value the people who teach us.
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The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect the perspectives of contributing writers and/or university community members.
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