Part-time profs face full-time struggle

The lockout and strike at St. Thomas University in 2008 brought issues affecting part-time professors to the forefront of the debate. Photo courtesy of Acadia University Faculty Association.

brian campbell’s first experience as a part-time professor was not the happiest one. The University of New Brunswick offered Campbell a job to teach three courses during a summer intersession. He thought this would be the beginning of his teaching career – something he describes as being a long-term goal.

“I quit my job at Starbucks and started working on all this stuff and then no one signed up for my classes. And they all got cancelled and because I hadn’t been offered the contract unless there were enough students, I had nothing.”

Since his lease expired around the same time as the whole incident, Campbell and his wife decided to travel across the country to try and find a new city to make a new start. The couple eventually settled in Vancouver but only a couple weeks later Campbell got a call from Craig Proulx, an anthropology professor at St. Thomas University.

“He said they needed somebody to teach [a course] here in Fredericton,” says Campbell. “Of course I had to do the applications like anybody else. I got the job pretty fast and ended up moving back [to Fredericton] after two or three weeks in Vancouver.”

A faculty of judgement?

To start this one off, I’d like to say that I have a great deal of respect for the people who have and continue to educate me in an academic capacity. Without these individuals I would not be the person I am today. As cliché as it sounds.

Having said that, there are some instances when I believe that professors at university should check some of their personal and political views at the classroom door. Let me clarify; if these opinions pertain to the subject matter being discussed in class, I would have no objections. But I can’t help but feel awkward when profs start ranting about the school administration and political parties. These rants usually occur from digressions in class discussions. If profs want to do it in their offices, outside of class or with their families around the dinner table that’s fine. Just don’t do it during class time.