Directories
Quick Searches
Find a Job
Quick Search
For Employers
Yahoo! HotJobs Local Search
A lesson for CSU faculty
By: North County Times Opinion staff | ∞
Our view: Strike plans insult the working Californians who pay professors' salaries
The next time you feel like venting about your lousy job, just remember, it could be worse. You could be a professor in the California State University system.
Think of it, a guaranteed job for life (once you've reached tenure), sabbaticals and conferences in exotic locales. And how about that schedule? There's Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break, summer break, plus all of the state and federal holidays (about 14 in all). Our guess is that they don't linger on Friday afternoons either, if you know what we mean.
Then there's the salary: $55,000 for a full-time assistant professor. A tenured full-time professor earns well in excess of $80,000. That's on top of benefits, including health, dental and retirement, that add up to another $20,000 in annual compensation.
In exchange for this indentured servitude, you have to go to faculty meetings, submit articles to obscure journals, write papers that few will ever read, provide intellectual fodder to those seeking to overthrow the very system that you benefit from, and teach an occasional class to the ungrateful blank slates who weren't smart enough to make the grade for the University of California system.
Of course, most of this is in jest, but, as with all satire, there's a kernel of truth. Although the life of a man or woman of letters is probably not as easy as it seems, it ain't breaking rocks in the noonday sun neither.
This tongue-in-cheek reaction is prompted by Wednesday's announcement that professors, librarians, coaches and counselors at the state's 23 CSU campuses had voted to initiate the first labor strike at the country's largest university system. The strike is to include a series of two-day "rolling walkouts" that will begin next month, including at the San Marcos campus.
California State University officials concede that, compared with professors in other universities, CSU professors are underpaid. In an attempt to close the gap, they've offered faculty a 25 percent raise over four years. That's in addition to a raise of 3.5 percent they received only two years ago. It's a fair assumption that most Californians would view that as a generous offer.
Teachers are balking, saying that only about 15 percent of that 25 percent raise is real. The remaining percentage is based on state funds that union reps say isn't there or on things such as merit pay, which makes up about 3 percent of the total. You're familiar with merit pay, aren't you? It's what the rest of us refer to as a paycheck.
More appealing are the teachers union's concerns that the CSU administrators aren't setting the best example: On the same day that the strike was announced, the state Senate held a hearing on excessive compensation for CSU executives. They deserve a similar degree of chiding.
The CSU system holds an important place in our state and students deserve the best faculty that money can buy, but perhaps it's time for academics to learn that life is full of compromise. Cal State's professors should take the 25 percent ---- give or take ---- drop the walkouts and the picket lines, and get back to class.
More Stories
Advertisement
Hispanic Serving Institutions wrote on Mar 22, 2007 9:55 PM:Nine of the CSU campuses are designated as 'Hispanic Serving Institutions' by the Federal government. It means that at least 25% of the students are hispanic, of which at least 50% are receiving government grants. Such campuses get extra government funds. Just a small window into the CSU world view.
GFN wrote on Mar 22, 2007 10:24 PM:Honestly, it is the shear number of non=English speaking illegals who have caused the deterioration of the salaries of the UC system. So many, at least 20% of the new students, are not up to grade level, even close to grade level, that the "system" realizes they can pay low-end salaries and still get by. Sadly, they are wrong; the UC system really has problems. Watch.
College Grad wrote on Mar 23, 2007 6:59 AM:If you hold out long enough, eventually the NCT editors put out a gem of an editorial like this one. Satire or not, you guys hit the nail on the head.
Salaries are Low wrote on Mar 23, 2007 7:04 AM:If the figures that you have quoted are correct, the salaries are quite low for the training required for the jobs. They are comparable to those of a high school teacher, with many more responsibilities. That being said, the unionization of the profs and staff is deplorable. This is the 21st century and both sides are adults; surely they can think of another way to settle their differences without causing problems for the students. The staff are free to leave CSU and find other jobs, which is what most of us in a similar situation in the private sector would do. Oh, but the rest of us don't have those great benefits that would entice us to stay where we are!
Refunds... wrote on Mar 23, 2007 7:17 AM:Students work hard, and their parents who financially support their education. Taxpayers continually flow monies into college education for the under privileged. What will 15% or 25% do to these students? It will place their educational goals farther away, and cause them to carry many more dollars in student loans for years after.
Nothing New wrote on Mar 23, 2007 7:57 AM:The CSU instructors are just playing the same game as the TVUSD faculty and chanting the same song "more money, give us more money". As with the TVUSD strike, I'm weary of their cries of wolf and poverty. If life is so bad as an CSU instructor, move on and find another job. There's many other people who would love to have your job, who want to work for the pay and benefits you are receiving. We have many retiring baby boomers who are looking for a second career. Step aside if you're so miserable and let others have your job since you don't want it anymore.
Chris wrote on Mar 23, 2007 8:03 AM:Right on NCTimes Editorial Board. Of course none us make more than 55k per year or have decent health benefits, so why should these "professors." It is unbelievable that in this day and age "professors" belong to a union. Maybe that made sense 100 years ago, but nowadays employers never try to take advantage of employees. These "professors" need to get with the times. If this idea catches on other people will start to think they are entitled to a decent wage and benefits. Also, why do these "professors" think education is so important? What has it ever done for anyone? In Myanmar almost nobody has a college degree and they do just fine, thank you very much.
CSUProf wrote on Mar 23, 2007 1:52 PM:Whether you like it or not, the market determines what a fair salary is for any job. CSU professors could make 20% more at another public school, 40% more at another private school, and sometimes 100% more in industry. Many CSU faculty (including myself) are getting out while we can, and given the current salary structure they aren't going to be able to find replacements for us. Whether there's a strike or not, the ones who will really suffer are the citizens of California, as the quality of affordable public colleges gradually deteriorates.
Hey CSU Prof wrote on Mar 23, 2007 2:21 PM:Why did you take the job in the first place? When you look around you'll find the grass isn't any greener...I have to go my 15 minute break is over.
To CSU Prof wrote on Mar 23, 2007 2:21 PM:I learned a lesson on my first job in private industry. Put your hand in a bucket of water. Pull your hand out. As long as the hole remains in the water, that is how long you are irreplaceable.
CSUProf wrote on Mar 23, 2007 4:06 PM:When I took the job five years ago, CSU salaries were reasonable. Since then, the cost of living here has risen substantially but my salary has actually declined slightly. And, sure, they'll always be able to find people to stand at the front of a classroom, regardless of the salary. But there's another lesson you may have learned in private industry: you get what you pay for.
Trevor wrote on Mar 23, 2007 4:10 PM:Once again the North County times votes for a stupider society, probably so there will be more readers to read its sixth-grade level text.
Pen stripes wrote on Mar 23, 2007 5:00 PM:Why is California scrambling to build more prisons that house non-violent drug offenders, while they cheap out on paying our educators? Probably because the prison guard union is more powerful than the teacher's union. As a tax paying citizen of California USA, I would prefer to see our government get it's priorities straight, spend more on education and less on prisons.
What Quality Education? wrote on Mar 23, 2007 7:12 PM:Those CSU professors are hillarious! Since when is 'quality education' and California used together in the same sentence? Talk about an oxymoron!
Chris wrote on Mar 23, 2007 9:33 PM:Trevor, I think you may be onto something. I guess my previous post which included sarcasm was probably at more of an eighth grade level. My bad.
CSU Prof too wrote on Mar 23, 2007 9:39 PM:North County Times... is this a real newspaper? Haha... okay one point. Have you ever tried to pay your mortgage or rent with your job security? Ummm, gas station has taken my Kasier card for payment either. Not once. Need cash to put food on the table. So SALARY is pretty important. And where is this paper published? Joke.
Advertisement