Andrew Robinson, a physics department contract instructor at Carleton, published an open letter online about the low wages he and his colleagues receive for their work through the story-sharing website Medium on Jan. 30.
His letter, which has since been picked up by the Huffington Post, describes him having to deny a student’s request to go over their exam from a previous term because of the lack of time and financial compensation contract instructors like him are faced with.
“My contract says that I can deliver a half-year course in 225 hours but this is just unrealistic,” Robinson said. “To actually deliver a course goes well over 280 hours and if I were to go over the exams of a quarter of students in a class of 200 that would rake me well into the 300 hour range. The university essentially wants me to work for nothing.”
After being turned down for a permanent job position in May, Robinson has been going through a grievance process with the university and CUPE 4600, the union representing contract instructors on campus.
“I had to speak out. The university is creating sub-standard jobs and they’re not being held accountable. I make about $34,000 dollars a year and if I was a full-time instructor teaching the same courses, I would be paid almost twice as much,” Robinson said.
By using contract instructor positions, Robinson said the university is undermining their most important reason for existence—education.
“What the university doesn’t want you to know is that a third and a half of courses are taught by contract instructors. They’re using the positions as a way of cutting costs at the frontline of one of their progressive missions, which is teaching,” he said.
Courtney Lockhart, the vice-president (internal) of CUPE 4600 at Carleton, commented on how common these issues are for contract instructors throughout Canada.
“Andrew’s letter speaks to the general frustrations that contract instructors are going through. One of those is that contract instructors are doing the same work as professors. They have the same qualifications and teaching experience but they are treated much differently,” she said.
Lockhart added contract instructors did not get health benefits until September 2014. She commented on the lack of stability contract instructors face in their positions.
“Contract instructors have to reapply for their jobs every year. It’s stressful and frustrating to not know what class you’ll be teaching later. The number of contract instructors have increased every year and as a union we work hard to support them and fight for fair deals,” she said.
Robinson encouraged students to look into where their increased tuition money is going and pressure the university into being more transparent.
“People have to stand up and say that this is not right,” he said. “Even if it means cutting back on new building programs, the university needs to focus on the quality of teaching and the treatment of their instructors.”
Chris Cline, a Carleton media relations officer, said the university has no comment to provide about Robinson’s letter at this time.
