Adjunct Professor Retirement Fund
Donation protected
Since 1999, I have been a non-tenured professor at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. I have a Ph.D. and normally teach a 5/5 course load plus summer courses (most faculty teach only 2 or 3 classes per semester). For eleven years, the university paid me around $45K per year, a fraction of what most tenured professors make. Then the university fired me in April effective May 2020, due to COVID-19-related budget cuts. The dean and other administrators told me there's no way I'd be hired back.
Firing me at age 61 gutted my meager retirement. I would have had twenty years in at age 65. My retirement benefit would have nearly doubled over the next four years. Now I’m slated to retire on less than $1500 per month (an amount that is taxed). Even if I find another job, my teacher's (STRS) and social security retirement benefits cancel each other out. Based on the “two-thirds law,” it's illegal to "double dip" and cobble together retirement benefits. The bar is set. I'm devastated.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a progressive student-centered educator who has always worked very hard. It's been my life's work to devote my time and energies to teaching and working with thousands of students in the arts and art history, teacher education, and international studies. I’m active in my field, publishing in peer-reviewed journals and presenting, despite my workload of large classes, usually 45 students each. I have provided service to the university, including serving on committees and organizing events, as well as volunteering as the Faculty Advisor for Model UN, Student UNICEF, the Fulbright Faculty Advisory Committee, and other student organizations. I was delighted to do it and it was meaningful work.
The reality is that losing my job and health insurance at my age has been a financial death knell. I’ve always been a strong and optimistic person, but at this point, I'm scared and not sure how I’m going to survive. I’m on my own and have no other income. I have a mortgage on a very modest house and no savings. I am applying for jobs but prospects for someone my age are bleak. I am more than willing to work but in all likelihood, I’ll be lucky if I can cobble together part-time jobs. What about health insurance? So know that whatever you contribute will go directly into my retirement account.
Now I’m among the oldest of the non-tenured postsecondary educators hiding in plain sight who’ve just lost our jobs. I’m speaking primarily to present and former students when I say we have taught most of your classes, and gone the extra mile for individual students, every day of our working lives. Thank you for that honor. I’m among the good people who are older and have held out, working hard and applying for better job opportunities while struggling to survive on half or less income compared to most of our tenured colleagues in an inequitable system. As we all struggle to survive COVID-19 and beyond, stay safe and healthy. Thank you for doing what you can, including forwarding this message.
UPDATE: Here is a link to an article posted on the Miami University AAUP website: http://www.miamiaaup.org/2020/05/the-die-is-cast-my-retirement-is-gutted-learning-from-precarity/
Firing me at age 61 gutted my meager retirement. I would have had twenty years in at age 65. My retirement benefit would have nearly doubled over the next four years. Now I’m slated to retire on less than $1500 per month (an amount that is taxed). Even if I find another job, my teacher's (STRS) and social security retirement benefits cancel each other out. Based on the “two-thirds law,” it's illegal to "double dip" and cobble together retirement benefits. The bar is set. I'm devastated.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a progressive student-centered educator who has always worked very hard. It's been my life's work to devote my time and energies to teaching and working with thousands of students in the arts and art history, teacher education, and international studies. I’m active in my field, publishing in peer-reviewed journals and presenting, despite my workload of large classes, usually 45 students each. I have provided service to the university, including serving on committees and organizing events, as well as volunteering as the Faculty Advisor for Model UN, Student UNICEF, the Fulbright Faculty Advisory Committee, and other student organizations. I was delighted to do it and it was meaningful work.
The reality is that losing my job and health insurance at my age has been a financial death knell. I’ve always been a strong and optimistic person, but at this point, I'm scared and not sure how I’m going to survive. I’m on my own and have no other income. I have a mortgage on a very modest house and no savings. I am applying for jobs but prospects for someone my age are bleak. I am more than willing to work but in all likelihood, I’ll be lucky if I can cobble together part-time jobs. What about health insurance? So know that whatever you contribute will go directly into my retirement account.
Now I’m among the oldest of the non-tenured postsecondary educators hiding in plain sight who’ve just lost our jobs. I’m speaking primarily to present and former students when I say we have taught most of your classes, and gone the extra mile for individual students, every day of our working lives. Thank you for that honor. I’m among the good people who are older and have held out, working hard and applying for better job opportunities while struggling to survive on half or less income compared to most of our tenured colleagues in an inequitable system. As we all struggle to survive COVID-19 and beyond, stay safe and healthy. Thank you for doing what you can, including forwarding this message.
UPDATE: Here is a link to an article posted on the Miami University AAUP website: http://www.miamiaaup.org/2020/05/the-die-is-cast-my-retirement-is-gutted-learning-from-precarity/
Organizer
KATHRYN LAFEVER
Organizer
Hamilton, OH