Pros
Excellent health benefits and state retirement Tuition waivers for spouse and children Arizona weather Excellent Writing Programs Program Manager who really cares about faculty and works hard to make schedules work for them Writing Programs Administrator who tries to care and helps where she can
Cons
The salaries are extremely low, regionally and nationally. The administration cries fiscal shortages and cuts salaries for people on the lower end (staff, contingent faculty) who already were earning far below the norm and having to work multiple jobs to support their families. They also cut staff and then expect others to do the work of two full-time employees with no increase in salary. They cut Writing Programs Instructor hard-earned merit raises for next year. Meanwhile President Crow greedily accepted a 20% raise for himself in the midst of the budget crisis. The administration has no regard for the people under them. Employees are just a number and they will use you until they wear you out and then they will shove you aside to make way for a new person who will take a lower salary. Our department chair refused to meet with our rank in the midst of a crisis in which we were being told we would have to increase our work load by 25%. He wouldn't discuss the situation with us or allow us to be part of the solution. Instead, he unilaterally decided to cut our merit raises, which were earned over years of highly meritorious service, and increased our work load 25%. At the same time, he gave new, unproved Instructors a 20% raise. President Crow has gone before the Arizona State Legislature and stated that he promises raises and then doesn't follow through in giving them in order to get us to work harder. Yes, our rank has experienced that phenomenon, no raise in 10 years, then a promised raise that never showed. He seemed proud of this way of getting more work out of university employees. He also begged the legislature to allow him to cut the two good benefits to teaching at ASU: the state health benefits and state retirement. President Crow, you can't have it both ways. You can't pay us bottom of the barrel salaries and also give us bottom of the barrel benefits. If you do that, we won't have a reason to stay around for any more abuse. The only thing teaching at ASU is better than is adjuncting at multiple schools with no benefits. Right now, like adjuncts, most instructors have second jobs, but at least we have benefits--for the time being anyway. That could change in December. I don't recommend moving to Arizona to become an Instructor in Writing Programs at ASU. It's simply not worth it. You will be overworked, underpaid, and trapped. At ASU, walls are being knocked down to make larger classrooms. All the individualized attention ASU was once known for is going away. Students beware. Your tuition is increasing while your services are decreasing.
