Academia, Religion

Duquesne University Professor Dies In Abject Poverty

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

250px-Holy_Ghost_Fathers_sealMargaret Mary Vojtko, an adjunct professor who had taught French at Duquesne University for 25 years, died of a massive heart attack at the age of 83. Adjunct professors at Duquesne make between $3000 and $3500 per semester per course. In the best of times, Margaret Mary, teaching three course, wasn’t even clearing $25,000 a year with no benefits and no job security. After Duquesne reduced her to one course, Margaret Mary couldn’t afford to pay the electricity bill and her home became uninhabitable in the winter.

Ironically, Duquesne’s president, Charles J. Dougherty, is a nationally recognized scholar and expert in health care ethics. Since Margaret Mary didn’t have health care, I guess there was no health care ethics involved. Duquesne’s president makes over $700,000 a year with full benefits.

In 2005, adjunct professors make up about 48% of the faculty at colleges and universities. Today, that number is 75% as universities cut costs by reducing the number of more expensive tenured professors. The cost savings are not passed along to students. Duquesne, a private university, has increased tuition an average of 5.4% per year between 2006 and 2010. Higher tuition and lower costs via less qualified professors, the best of both worlds, for the universities.

A majority of the 130 adjunct faculty at Duquesne decided to organize as a chapter of the United Steelworkers and submitted a petition for an election to the National Labor Relations Board. Duquesne hired a Memphis lawyer known for his counseling organizations on how to remain union free. Duquesne filed a motion that since it was a “church-operated school,” it was exempt from NLRB jurisdiction. The motion was denied.

Although Duquesne was founded by, and is sponsored by, members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, it does not depend financially on the Catholic Church, does not require its faculty members to be Catholic, and does not require its student to study Catholicism.

As universities focus on increasing their endowments through cost cutting measures like hiring more adjunct professors, they lose sight of their raison d’être, to provide a quality education for their students.

Only a small part of the U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on the percentage of faculty who are full time. Even this small part is being gamed by the universities. The University of Nebraska interpreted the U.S. News question on the percentage of full time faculty to cover only those faculty who are tenured or on a tenure track and not to cover adjunct faculty. While U.S. News has since detailed that adjuncts should be counted, the low contribution to a school’s ranking, just 5%, is obscene.

The Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice has declared that “Union busting is a mortal sin.” Georgetown University, one of two Catholic universities to make the U.S. News top 25, just recognized its adjunct professors’ union, citing the Catholic Church’s social justice teachings.

H/T: Daniel Kovalik, Austin Cline, Mark Oppenheimer, Claudio Sanchez, Scott Jaschik, Moshe Z. Marvit.

885 thoughts on “Duquesne University Professor Dies In Abject Poverty”

  2. But, then those whining faux Italians who complained about The Godfather; a movie written, directed and acted by Italians, would object.

  4. OK OS is back. Let’s hope we can settle this dispute once and for all time. As in the infamous words of Rodney King: “I didn’t know the pool was filled…” Oops sorry that wasn’t very nice was it… 🙂

  5. Looks like the Indians are going to lose. The PC Gods are smiling. But, should a Ray be a mascot? PETA says “NO.”

  6. Bo Dietl is a blowhard, greasy, dago buffoon. Imus is a New Mexico cowboy @ heart. They’re always armed.

  7. @Nick – Jesus H. Christ how many pills do you have? What burns my buns is that my son had shiat-load of them and now nobody knows a phuqing thing about there whereabouts. Wadda’ ya’ gonna do wid’ these gabones? Don’t them things make you go blind? Can’t afford that ya’ know. Got to be able to see my tons of cameras.

    I was watching Imus in the Morning once and they where sharing Viagra pills like candy on the show. Those guys are bona-fide nuts. I’ve had two encounters with him. He is ALWAYS armed! Even though Bo Dietl (personal body guard) goes everywhere with him.

  12. LK & SOTB,
    I just sent this to my Congressman, who is an MD., in response to his email about how they are “trying” to get the White House to “compromise” by caving to their demands.

    I read your message, and have a really simple solution. There is nothing to “compromise” about. The Affordable Care Act is a done deal. How about just sending a clean budget bill to the White House.

    I wish I could charge stuff to my credit card and then vote to not pay it with no consequences.

    The Hippocratic Oath says, “First do no harm.” With millions of people without health insurance, thousands of them in this district, they are harmed if they are unable to buy insurance. Just pass a clean bill.

    He won’t because he has drunk the Kool Aid and way too many people who need the ACA have been convinced it is bad, and should vote against their own self interest and that of their families.

    I should have asked two questions:
    1) What will you do with the thousands of people who signed up for the ACA the past two days?

    2) So if we put off implementing the ACA for a year, what do you plan to do then when it is supposed to go into effect?

  13. Indians still down 3-0, bottom of the 8th. 4 outs to go. Crowd is very quiet now.

  14. SOTB, I know what OS does/did! He spoke of it many times. Any investigator has a skeptical mind, or should. You like the guy, I get it, you’ll give him every break. You don’t need to make his case, he doesn’t need to, unless he wants to try. Please let it go, I have for tonight.

  15. LOTTAKATZ – Yeah you’re right. My wife said the website was down today. But I guess I can start now. Obama will probably get this thing funded. I actually have until March 2014 before being fined.

    Gene H – A little help please? I got a really funny one stuck in the shredder.

  16. LK,

    That spin seems to be working in some areas. The local news just had one of their straw polls on from their website. “Who do you blame for the shutdown?”

    Democrats: 38%
    Republicans: 26%
    Not Sure: 36%

  17. SOTB, Hell, I will send you some pills, but you need your wife’s permission.

  18. @Nick – OS did not need to refer to inmates in the thread. He assumed everyone here knew about his job dealing with inmates. I’m surprised you didn’t know after a year here.

    Anyway – back to Paulie Walnuts (back in character): “Hey wha’ did you call me aggressive-pussy? Wha’??? Insecure? I got yer’ insecure right here!” – Tony speaks up: “Come on’ Paulie lighten up. He didn’t mean anything… OK? Don’ worry abou’ it – right?” “Yeah OK Tony whatever you say…. Hey wait a phuqing minute! Ain’t you dead Tony? Oh shiat dem’ phuqing haunts are back!” – 🙂

    Thanks for tolerating my wry humor. I’m sitting here LMAO while I’m typing. I just love Paulie Walnuts stereotypes and all…

  19. SOTB, The crazy Republicans are spinning like neutron stars to distance themselves from their shutdown but the ACA rolls on: 6 million people have tried to check the websites to be ready to go for the January implementation. It’s still on. The shutdown doesn’t impact the ACA.

  20. @nick – Because despite my 4 part-time jobs I probably clear a little more than Margaret Mary did here. So I’m one of those “gabons” that has no healthcare. When this thing gets funded I’m filing for the public option. Just because we are quasi-spooks doesn’t mean we are rolling in the green-backs my friend. Ollie North can afford a phuqing $600,000 burglar alarm I can only afford a $25 Radio Shack version with no laser cannons and machine gun nests. And you know why he is rolling in the green-backs. Can you spell Paul Bremer and missing Iraqi CPA money (Try $8.8b)? Why do they call the Good Fellas good fellas? These mofo gamokes are the real Good Fellas! They have Tony Soprano beat by a long shot. Paul’s from Hartford CT too. Go figure…

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