The NMU-AAUP Summer Teaching Survey indicates 53 AAUP faculty (36% of survey respondents) have declined summer teaching assignments due to the dramatic decrease in summer teaching pay, 56 AAUP faculty members (37.8% of survey respondents) have agreed to teach summer courses despite the pay cut.

Responses to several follow-up questions reveal deep concerns about the quality of the courses, students’ ability to make good academic progress, equal pay for equal work, the morale of NMU faculty members, and ultimately student retention.  

Although faculty members are not “required by contract” to teach summer classes, most who have agreed to teach at the reduced pay feel obligated to do so, and they are upset about the situation.  Categorical coding of statements explaining this feeling of obligation demonstrates how committed NMU faculty are to their students.  The most common reason for feeling obligated to teach the summer courses was students’ ability to make satisfactory academic progress.  Many students rely on certain courses to be offered in the summer, they design their plan of study to include these courses, and they need them to complete prerequisites for the fall classes in order to stay on track for graduation.  In some cases, the degree program requires students to take certain courses during the summer, and certification/accreditation standards, often require instructors to have specific credentials.  This leaves little room for choice when the program requires these courses to be taught.

Some department heads are making special deals with their faculty to bridge the gap; however, the survey shows that most are not. Adjustments include reducing the number of students allowed in courses or increasing faculty compensation in some way to match or bring pay closer to the previous rate.

Comments from multiple respondents show the reduction of pay for summer teaching has caused significant problems with staffing courses. The fear is that reduced or improperly staffed course offerings will lead to frustration for students and eventual reductions in enrollment.

Finally, the open-ended comments from the survey send a clear message that our faculty are feeling angry and underappreciated. Despite the noble efforts of many in our ranks to soldier on for the sake of the students and their programs, we know from multiple studies that disgruntled employees do sub-par work (Oswald, et al. 2015; and Peiró, et al. 2019). Our administration should not be satisfied with anything less than our best.

I invite you to review the full quantitative and qualitative responses to this survey. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this survey.

Citations:

Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi D. (2015) Happiness and productivity. Journal of labor Economics 33(4), 789-822.

Peiró, J. M., Kozusznik, M. W., Rodríguez-Molina, I., & Tordera, N. (2019). The Happy-Productive Worker Model and Beyond: Patterns of Wellbeing and Performance at Work. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(3), 479. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030479