Death of an adjunct

[Brickbat]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/death-of-an-adjunct-703773/

By Daniel Kovalik

On Sept. 1, Margaret Mary Vojtko, an adjunct professor who had taught French at Duquesne University for 25 years, passed away at the age of 83. She died as the result of a massive heart attack she suffered two weeks before. As it turned out, I may have been the last person she talked to.

On Aug. 16, I received a call from a very upset Margaret Mary. She told me that she was under an incredible amount of stress. She was receiving radiation therapy for the cancer that had just returned to her, she was living nearly homeless because she could not afford the upkeep on her home, which was literally falling in on itself, and now, she explained, she had received another indignity -- a letter from Adult Protective Services telling her that someone had referred her case to them saying that she needed assistance in taking care of herself. The letter said that if she did not meet with the caseworker the following Monday, her case would be turned over to Orphans' Court.

For a proud professional like Margaret Mary, this was the last straw; she was mortified. She begged me to call Adult Protective Services and tell them to leave her alone, that she could take care of herself and did not need their help. I agreed to. Sadly, a couple of hours later, she was found on her front lawn, unconscious from a heart attack. She never regained consciousness.

Meanwhile, I called Adult Protective Services right after talking to Margaret Mary, and I explained the situation. I said that she had just been let go from her job as a professor at Duquesne, that she was given no severance or retirement benefits, and that the reason she was having trouble taking care of herself was because she was living in extreme poverty. The caseworker paused and asked with incredulity, "She was a professor?" I said yes. The case- worker was shocked; this was not the usual type of person for whom she was called in to help.

Adjuncts at Duquesne voted a year ago to join the Steelworkers, but the university has not recognized them yet. Shame on the university.

[mike_c]

1. that is a horrible story....

[Sheldon Cooper]

2. Did she not have access to Social Security and Medicare?

And honestly, when you're essentially homeless and penniless, would assisted living have been that horrible?

I understand the basic problem here: she should have received some type of living wage and/or pension from Duquesne. She should have been able to live out her remaining years with some semblance of dignity and comfort. To be sure, Duquesne has nothing to be proud of here.

But I don't know enough about her situation to really understand what was going on.

[haele]

5. She probably didn't. If she taught at a religious institution, they probably never had to pay.

There are still organizations that are exempt from paying Social Security, just as there are organizations that are exempt from paying income or other taxes. Religious organizations and religious persons (ministers, priests, nuns) and some charitable organizations are on that list.
So if she worked all her life at the university or at Catholic organizations, then she had no access to SSI unless she paid the Social Security taxes herself.
Though it is pretty bad if she wasn't offered some sort of pension or retirement for all her work - even as an adjunct professor, she had worked there for 25 years and should have had access to one.

She was probably eligible for some form of medicare and medicaid, but I don't know enough the laws of Pennsylvania to have an idea on what was covered.

Haele

[Johonny]

24. That's exactly what happen to my aunt

now she's in her late 50s with 25 years of teacher experience and working at Wallmart. The new American retirement plan for its educators.

[anneboleyn]

17. As an academic, I have never heard of an 83 y.o. adjunct as there are clocks regarding

tenure and how long a person can work as an adjunct at a particular university without being put on the tenure track (25 years sounds extraordinary. I have never heard of a situation like this -- it should be reported). I wonder if the AAUP should be contacted regarding this? How did she not qualify for social security or Medicare or even Medicaid if she was in dire poverty? Honestly I have never heard of an academic still teaching as an adjunct at the age of 83 -- but this should be reported to the AAUP.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. There are plenty of schools where you can adjunct for 25 years

Some schools time you out from full-time adjunct work after 6 years (loosely what would be a pre-tenure probationary period), but you can still adjunct at many of those on a per class, or move from a 4/4 load (or 3/3/3 quarter load) to something like a 2/2. Some schools have unlimited "fixed term" appointments - and yes, even unto 25 years. The woman who was my teaching mentor my first year in graduate school was fixed term (full time, but adjunct) for 25 years or so.

I agree that 83 sounds rather extreme, though.

[yurbud]

3. I'm an Adjunct. I didn't get health insurance for the first ten years I taught

Now I have it, but I can only get coverage for my wife and daughter too unless I pay $1200 a monthout of pocket.

When I first stated teaching, I couldn't afford to buy insurance for myself because my student loan payments were as high as my rent.

I got more insurance as a student taking one class than I did as an instructor at the same school.

People stick with the job because the psychological rewards are great, but if the corporate education reform movement gets their hooks as far into us as they have in K-12, it well be harder to rationalize taking the economic abuse.

[zazen]

4. thx--just cross posted it to my FB page n/t

[jsr]

6. Meanwhile, the university president makes $675,471 a year

[Blue Diadem]

7. I encourage everyone to read the full story at the link.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

[Starry Messenger]

8. I'm an adjunct.

I read that an hour ago and feel like I'm staring my future in the face. I'm working through my union for reform, but let's face it--this is still a really sucky low-paid job.

[Brickbat]

9. I have several friends who are adjuncts. I admire the hell out of them, and you.

It's a hell of a job. Solidarity in your work for reform.

[Starry Messenger]

10. Thanks for posting this.

It's making the rounds of adjunct e-lists right now. Hopefully the death of our sister will galvanize some new activity to make sure this doesn't happen again.

The reaction of the public agency to hearing she was a professor really rings with me. I had a trip to emergency about 7 years ago and a similar conversation with a doctor who kind of yelled at me for not having health benefits. He was embarrassed when he found out that it's totally common for people who are "college teachers" to not have coverage.

[raccoon]

23. I hope that doctor got his head out of his behind. But I know, lots of people are clueless

that way.

"a doctor who kind of yelled at me for not having health benefits."

[johnp3907]

11. My wife's an adjunct.

In Pittsburgh no less, so this really hits close to home. I had the same feeling as you when I read this a short time ago.

[Starry Messenger]

12. It's pretty bleak.

It's really past time to fix this, or else a lot of us could go this way.

[johnp3907]

18. And.......

...my wife gets home from her second adjunct job (55 miles away) opens the paper to this piece and says she's met both the author and the subject.

[Starry Messenger]

19. Whoa.

That's really rough. Let her know that lots of adjuncts are talking about Margaret Mary's life and death today.

[yurbud]

15. what state?

[Starry Messenger]

16. CA

[Tanuki]

13. This goes way beyond the plight of the adjunct.

That this could be the heartbreaking end of the life for this dedicated, dignified woman is terrible. It sounds as if she was failed by society on many levels, and although she didn't want the help of APS, they might have been able to help with housing, fuel, medical expenses, or other tangible needs. How many people her age are still able to work (not many), and how many thousands (if not millions) of vulnerable seniors are out there in similarly desperate straits? There is much that we don't know, but it sounds as if she was single and childless, but she did have at least one nephew, so I wonder why her family could not have offered some assistance. I wish that we had a better social safety net for the elderly. Maybe the activist wing of the baby boomers will take this up as they age into the senior demographic.

[WinkyDink]

14. Since when can Americans be forced to "meet a caseworker or be turned over to Orphans' Court"???!

[riderinthestorm]

21. Oh my god, how horrible! The despicable way we treat educators

from Kindergarten teachers to professors is shameful!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. how awful