Part-time Connection
A recent study links part-time instructors to the freshman drop-out rate. At SU the positions have a different effect.
By Angela Cave
Posted: 4/20/08, 10:24 PM EST Section: News
Tere Paniagua could not support her three children with the $3,500 Syracuse University was paying her to teach part-time in 2002.
"Part-time teaching at SU would not permit me to be a provider for my family," said Paniagua, a single mother.
Paniagua, a journalist of 25 years, pioneered the Hispanic journalistic practices course at the school. But she received no benefits until she took on an additional full-time position as senior editor at Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact Inc., a publishing group affiliated with the university.
This way, she gets benefits, and she also gets an office both on and off campus.
In a recent study examining four public four-year universities in a southeastern state, researchers discovered that part-time instructors' treatment may be linked to freshman drop-out rates. The authors found that freshmen were more likely to drop out if their large introductory courses - defined as classes with more than 90 students - were taught by part-time instructors.
The study can easily be applied to private universities, said Kevin Eagan, co-author of the study and a doctoral student at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"We're not out to blame part-time faculty," Eagan said. "Part-time faculty tend to be less satisfied with their positions, because they're paid less."
The results do not reflect instructors' abilities or inabilities, he said.
Institutions often give part-time instructors no benefits, no office space and no pay to hold office hours, Eagan said. As a result, they tend to be less connected with students.
But private schools hire part-time instructors to teach large courses less frequently, because it gives them an edge over public schools, Eagan said.
Cathryn Newton, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences at SU, said it is extremely unusual for a part-time instructor to teach a course with more than 90 students within her school.
"We are completely on the other end of the spectrum," Newton said. "We just made a decision a long time ago here that we're not going to be that kind of place - that we're going to hire talented all-arounders."
"Part-time teaching at SU would not permit me to be a provider for my family," said Paniagua, a single mother.
Paniagua, a journalist of 25 years, pioneered the Hispanic journalistic practices course at the school. But she received no benefits until she took on an additional full-time position as senior editor at Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact Inc., a publishing group affiliated with the university.
This way, she gets benefits, and she also gets an office both on and off campus.
In a recent study examining four public four-year universities in a southeastern state, researchers discovered that part-time instructors' treatment may be linked to freshman drop-out rates. The authors found that freshmen were more likely to drop out if their large introductory courses - defined as classes with more than 90 students - were taught by part-time instructors.
The study can easily be applied to private universities, said Kevin Eagan, co-author of the study and a doctoral student at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"We're not out to blame part-time faculty," Eagan said. "Part-time faculty tend to be less satisfied with their positions, because they're paid less."
The results do not reflect instructors' abilities or inabilities, he said.
Institutions often give part-time instructors no benefits, no office space and no pay to hold office hours, Eagan said. As a result, they tend to be less connected with students.
But private schools hire part-time instructors to teach large courses less frequently, because it gives them an edge over public schools, Eagan said.
Cathryn Newton, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences at SU, said it is extremely unusual for a part-time instructor to teach a course with more than 90 students within her school.
"We are completely on the other end of the spectrum," Newton said. "We just made a decision a long time ago here that we're not going to be that kind of place - that we're going to hire talented all-arounders."
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