Editorial By: The CNM Chronicle Editorial Board
Since the Administration and Governing Board see fit to pay part-time instructors a pathetic annual wage, they should at least have the decency to provide these dedicated instructors with a decent work space.
In the article “Deplorable portable: Part-time instructors unhappy with office space,” adjunct instructors spoke only about a fraction of the problems they face in their office on Main Campus.
Aside from what was mentioned, the bar that ensures the entry doors shuts completely is broken, the windows are without screens, the carpeting is filthy, the walls are in desperate need of paint, the whole office has only seven computers and one printer and the instructors desks are separated only by filing cabinets.
At an institution that boasts more than 30,000 students and can buy up property because it has a pretty backyard (see Volume 18 Issue five’s “CNM to purchase more property”) no one should be left to contend with such a pathetic workspace.
By workspace we mean a metal portable building the size of a single-wide trailer, which does not have its own bathroom and retains heat too well in the summer and not at all in the winter.
As of this printing, CNM employs 506 part-time instructors and only 307 full-time instructors. On average, full-time instructors teach five classes each term, while part-time instructors teach anywhere between five and eight classes per term.
Part-time instructors are obviously an important part of the educational process on campus and they should be treated as such.
Yes, there have been lean years in the state lately, and perhaps large wage increases are out of the question. That should not mean that instructors should have to work in crowded, hot, broken workspaces.
