Kean University in Jersey City is making its professors fill out time sheets to prove that they are working at least 35 hours a week. Wow! Check out this article in Inside Higher Ed.
I think Cary Nelson, the president of the American Association of University Professors, put it best:
The real problem with faculty time sheets is that no administration can cope with the reality of accurate reporting,” he said via e-mail. “Many of us work 12 or 15 hour days, seven days a week. If it became clear how many hours we put in, there’d be an unimpeachable argument for better compensation and more faculty positions.
For all of you who think that professors work less than others, here is a snippet from the article:
A 2006 study found that full-time faculty members worked an average of 48.6 hours per week, up from just over 40 in 1984. Further, the study found that the proportion of full-time faculty members who work more than 50 hours a week has doubled since 1972 — reaching nearly two-fifths.
And finally:
Castiglione (president of the faculty union at Kean) said that Kean faculty members who report hours that exceed 35 a week are not receiving any extra pay as a result.
My poor profs. They should all be allotted one extra week of sabbatical for every time I visit their office hours — if they even get sabbaticals. This post makes me grateful all over again for the time they put in as teachers and mentors. It's a tough job and a high calling, and I wish they got paid accordingly.
In the interest of accuracy, Kean is in Union, NJ (right on Elizabeth border). It is not in Jersey City.
Thanks for the correction, rbfan42