Opinion – A Partial Load Steward
Anybody who has worked in education has certainly heard how lucky most teachers and professors are that they “get summers off”, often with just a liiiittle hint of envy. This is a time to re-energize, get caught up chores, spend time with family, and is considered an amazing perk after many months of hard work. Summers are a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle.
As a new Union steward representing primarily Partial-Load faculty members, this sounds wonderful! I wish I knew what it was like!
Throughout my seven years as contract faculty, time off always comes with a catch. Any time not spent in the classroom is time not spent earning money. Those nice two-week gaps between terms to rest up and get a head-start? We spend these updating content and preparing courses for the new term as well (unpaid of course), and it loses its charm pretty quickly. We realize we should probably not be doing this prep work between contracts (especially since those courses are never guaranteed until a contract is eventually signed weeks later), but we are used to wanting to deliver the best learning experience and we take pride in our work, so we do it all the same.
When you work contract-to-contract, any time off represents lost paychecks and lost health insurance benefits. One of the most common things I hear from colleagues, both full-time or contract, is about exhaustion and burnout from their courses. The conflict of needing a break to refresh yourself and enjoy the summer vs. the need to pay the bills is always there, and classes drag on into one long, seemingly endless session.
We love the challenge and rewards from seeing our students succeed, but it would be nice to take a week off now and then and not only think of the rapidly depleting bank account, you know?
For the first time, we have multiple Partial-Load faculty voices in the OPSEU 560 LEC to help make these concerns heard. I’m excited that as a re-energized local we can push towards addressing Partial-Load issues, fighting for bridging contracts between terms, and the increased hope that one day the path to Full-Time becomes clearer and the vision of sunny skies beyond walls of marking becomes attainable.
For now, I’ll close the curtains and get back to the marking this letter helped me to procrastinate from.
Have a wonderful summer everyone!