PrecariCorps will have four fundamental purposes, and we are currently designing upcoming programs to support each one:
- To improve the lives and livelihoods of contingent faculty undergoing financial hardship by providing charitable assistance to them in the form of cash assistance and/or grants;
- To create and distribute educational media to the public, including parents, students, and college communities, that details how colleges function in the post-recession U.S. economy;
- To create and design a searchable archive for contingent faculty issues in the news;
- To conduct research on contingent faculty and their role in the economy of U.S. colleges to encourage a broader public understanding of how colleges budget their financial resources as well as what effects these budgetary practices have on faculty populations, student populations, and the general value of higher education.
Improving Lives and Livelihoods of Contingent Faculty with Hardship Relief Funds or Grants for Faculty Development.
To accomplish our first goal, PrecariCorps will offer contingent faculty donations through one of our programs, the Hardship Relief Fund or the Grant for Faculty Development. Applicants may email a completed application to receive either a donation to help them pay one bill or help them travel to one conference.
Creating and Distributing Educational Material.
To accomplish the second of our goals, PrecariCorps will create and develop online media to educate the public about how colleges function in the post-recession economy. Media will detail some of the realities of college practices, including budgetary concerns, administrative practices, hiring practices, faculty working conditions, and how colleges spend student tuition dollars. We’ll also develop media showing how these practices affect faculty, students, and their families.
Creating and Designing a Searchable Archive.
To accomplish the third of our goals, PrecariCorps will monitor, maintain, and develop an archive of news articles relevant to contingent faculty, student, and campus community interests in the U.S.
Conducting Research on Contingent Faculty’s Role in the Economy of U.S. Colleges and its Effect on Faculty and Student Populations.
To accomplish the fourth of our goals, PrecariCorps will develop inquiries, design research methodologies using a variety of techniques (such as surveying, data collection, and oral history collection), then collect and analyze data for a series of statistical and sociological research projects to assess how colleges’ budgetary practices and reliance on contingent faculty labor affects faculty, students, and campus communities.
What is PrecariCorps? We are a non-profit foundation established to provide much-needed financial and professional support to adjunct faculty, to create and distribute educational media on the pervasive crisis in higher education, and to conduct research on the effects of contingency on student and faculty populations.
Why do college faculty require outside financial support? Because 50% of contingent educators are adjuncts, or part-timers who are paid per course, per semester, without benefits or job security. You can read more about the issue on our Why We Need a Foundation page or our modest Media page.
How will you provide financial support to adjunct faculty? We will accept and distribute donations to current adjuncts who complete the application process for our Hardship Relief Fund or our Grants for Faculty Development Fund.
What does the application process entail? All qualifying adjuncts will provide information about their workplaces, describe their current working conditions, and state how the donations will help them and/or their families. Adjuncts applying for the Hardship Relief Fund will provide a breakdown of their monthly bills, and those applying for the Grands for Faculty Development Fund will describe the professional development opportunity and its costs. All applicants may also choose to share a narrative describing adjunct life.
Will adjuncts who apply for financial assistance be able to remain anonymous? Absolutely. We understand the risks involved in going public.
How will you choose who receives the donations? Any adjunct who completes the application truthfully is eligible. Essentially, our donations will be first-come, first-serve.
How may I donate? Simply click the PayPal link on our Donate page, sign in with your PayPal account, and decide the amount you want to contribute. No amount is too small.
How much do your employees get paid? Nothing. All the donations accepted will go directly to applicants.
