Meehan treating UMass Lowell like second-class citizen
Controversies involving UMass President Marty Meehan have been receiving a lot of press lately. One of the new scandals is his failure to negotiate or fund a contract for almost half the teaching faculty at the UMass Lowell campus. That failure strikes at the heart of a university’s mission — teaching.
As a member of Congress, Meehan fought for fairness. Now, on track to collect nearly $1 million a year in taxpayerfunded salary and perks, he seems determined to perpetuate regional and institutional inequality within the UMass system. It’s a bad approach for UMass students and an outlook that is poisonous to the city and people of Lowell.
Even though we have the same qualifications and teach many identical classes, adjunct faculty members at UMass Lowell are paid significantly less than faculty at other campuses, including at campuses like Amherst, where the cost of housing is 21 percent lower than in Lowell. While our colleagues in the rest of the UMass system have access to health insurance and retirement benefits, we go without.
At UMass Lowell, the number of adjunct professors is now roughly equal to the number of permanent faculty, with adjunct faculty teaching an increasing number of classes offered at the university. During the crucial first two years of a student’s college education, the majority of classes are taught by adjunct faculty members. Why does any of this matter? It matters because the success of our students depends on the fair treatment of their teachers. Researchers at the Delphi Project “Changing Faculty and Student Success” found that when universities treat adjunct faculty members poorly, students suffer.
Why, then, does UMass invest less in Lowell students when they pay the second highest tuition rate in the system? Why does Marty Meehan think UMass Lowell is worth less than other schools in the University of Massachusetts system?
Make no mistake, that’s exactly what he’s saying when he refuses to equitably fund UMass Lowell adjunct instructors and the resources we need for our students. Everyone knows we show our priorities by how we spend our resources. Watching where the money goes, it seems pretty clear Marty Meehan puts Lowell, its campus, its students and faculty at the bottom of the list.
Adjunct professors at UMass Lowell are published authors, business owners, lawyers, engineers, visual artists and members of world famous symphony orchestras. All are dedicated teachers who bring a wealth of experience and real world knowledge to the classroom. We have earned the respect of our students, colleagues and community. It’s long past time for Marty Meehan to recognize our contributions and show us that same respect.
We aren’t asking for special treatment. We are asking for fairness. Fairness for ourselves, our city and, most importantly, for our students.