The physics department is heating up after a contract instructor in the department published an open letter responding to his colleague Andrew Robinson’s “Enough’s Enough” letter, which argued Carleton contract instructors are not paid enough.
David Maybury responded by writing “I feel that Carleton’s contract instructor wages are more than adequate,” and added “Dr. Robinson fails to understand that wages are just a price, dictated by supply and demand.”
Maybury wrote that since Carleton does not seem to have any trouble finding contract instructors to fill the positions available, they are not under pressure to raise their wages as the supply of instructors is more than the demand for their services.
“It would be irresponsible for management to pay more than the market price for contract instructor services,” he wrote. “If management pays contract instructors more, it must take those dollars from somewhere.”
Robinson’s letter, published Jan. 30 on Medium and later the Huffington Post, said his contract instructor wage is barely enough, and he requires provincial assistance to have enough to survive.
Robinson said there are few opportunities for contract instructors to become full-time professors at Carleton. He added he is currently “in the middle of a union grievance, asking for my position to be made permanent.”
“It is clear that they do not value me, a teacher with two teaching awards, teaching 800-900 students in science and engineering as worth more than $34k per year, on temporary contract,” Robinson said.
He added he sometimes has to turn students away because seeing them would require him to work overtime without compensation.
Maybury, however, said in an email that compensation is far more than just a wage.
“I view my contract as being paid for a piece of work, which is a complete course to the best of my ability,” he said.
Robinson responded to Maybury’s comments on contract instructor wages, and said “Pay [contract instructors] for the hours we are actually doing the work for. Give us more than a four-month contract at a time.”
Maybury said in his letter that contract instructors are highly educated people, and as such, have opportunities to work outside of academia.
“I am glad to put in the time—if I wasn’t, I’d resign,” he said.
Maybury wrote in the letter how instructors are entitled to demand a better wage but should not expect one.
“Contract instructors who feel that Carleton’s wage offer does not match their worth are free to explore other occupations,” he said.
“If you don’t get the answer you want, then you need to make decisions about the right fit for you. That’s life,” Maybury said in an email.
As a solution, Robinson suggested the university should hire permenant lecturers to teach onerous classes and take the burden off research staff.
Both instructors said they teach because they enjoy helping young people understand physics, and ultimately they enjoy the experience.
However, Maybury said contract instructors should accept the consequences of their choice to teach and that most job choices contain trade-offs between fulfillment, flexibility, and salary.
“I appreciate that Dr. Robinson desires a higher wage. Most people do,” Maybury wrote. “But if we also desire a free and voluntary society, we must accept the consequences of our market choices.”
