Working Conditions of Online Instructors

On Line Teaching Working Conditions Survey

Deadline for responses: December 9, 2014

This survey is for anyone who is teaching on line in colleges or universities. We are looking at working conditions -- how much people get paid, how many hours they work, whether they have union representation, how many students they have in a class, whether they get paid for writing courses, how they are evaluated, etc. When we have collected enough responses to get a sense of what's out there, we will categorize the examples as "good," "bad" and "ugly," in an attempt to set some kind of standard of what decent working conditions for on line teachers might look like. This will in turn be used as a basis for discussion.

You do not have to give your real name in the box where it asks for your name. If you want to remain anonymous, just type in some random letters.

We do, however, need the name of the institution where the conditions you describe are in operation.

This survey is a project of the Coalition on Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL) and the Online Teaching Working Group of the United Association of Labor Education (UALE). The results of this survey will be reported out, without names of any individual people, to the COCAL Advisory Board and at the March 2013 UALE meeting in Toronto. Names of institutions, however, will be reported.

Please distribute this widely to help us collect as many responses as possible. If you want me to send it to someone, tell me via email at hworthen@illinois.edu and make sure you give me that person's email address.

Thank you --

Helena Worthen
for the Coalition on Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL X) and the OnLine Teaching Working Group, UALE

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* 1. What is your name? (Insert random letters if you prefer to be anonymous)

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* 2. What is the name and location of the institution at which you teach the class you will tell us about? Example: Roosevelt University, Chicago, or National Labor College, Maryland.

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* 3. What is the name of the class you are going to tell us about?

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* 4. What is your employment status when you teach this class? (You may teach other classes at the same institution under a different employment status - just respond in terms of this particular class.)

When I teach this class, I am an independent contractor (freelancer or "1099-er", as compared to an employee)

When I teach this class, I am an adjunct or "part-timer"

When I teach this class, it is part of my load for my full-time job but I am contingent (non-tenure track)

When I teach this class, it is part of my load for my full-time tenure-track job

When I teach this class, I am doing overload in addition to my full-time tenure track job at this institution

When I teach this class, I am teaching as an adjunct/part-timer but I also have a full time tenure-track job at another institution

Other (please specify)

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* 5. Do you teach this course as a faculty person who is

Full-time at one institution

Adjunct/part-time at one institution

Adjunct/part time at more than one institution

Adjunct at this institution but employed full-time at another institution

Other (please specify)

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* 6. How many other courses do you teach in a semester (15-17 weeks) while you are teaching this course? If you are teaching it as a compressed class along with other classes, mention that in the "other" box.

No other courses

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

More than five

Other (please specify)

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* 7. True or False: An important part of the mission of the institution where I teach this course is to reach students who are geographically dispersed, live in remote place, or have mobility limitations, so distance learning is an effective response to that challenge.

True

False

Other (please specify)

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* 8. True or False: I believe that this course, and the expertise which I bring to teaching it, is an indispensable contribution to the mission of the institution where I teach.

True

False

Other (please specify)

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* 9. Did you write the course you teach?

Yes

It was a collaborative effort

Other (please specify)

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* 10. Were you paid for writing this course, in addition to teaching it?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 11. Why do you think this institution is offering this course online?

To reach a geographically dispersed demographic

To supplement face-to-face traditional education

To expand course offerings beyond traditional or core curriculum

To solve budgetary problems connected to brick-and-mortar classroom costs (replacing physical classrooms)

To increase class size over what is possible through face-to-face classes

To bring in new sources of tuition revenue

Other (please specify)

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* 12. What kinds of communication technology do you work with in teaching this course?

Skype

Blackboard

Moodle

Telephone

Dispersed classrooms with microphones and video

Other (please specify)

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* 13. Is your course asynchronous (students and instructor log in during a time frame but not at any particular moment), synchronous (everyone is on line or on the phone/skype together at the same time, as if they were in the same place), mixed (some synchronous, some asynchronous)?

Asynchronous

Synchronous

Mixed

Other (please specify)

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* 14. Were you paid for writing this course? If so, how much? If you got paid more than $3,000 for writing this course, include some details in the "other" comment box.

No.

Less than $1000

$1,000 - $2,000

$2,000 - $3,000

$3,000 - $4,000

$4,000 - $5,000

$5,000 - $6,000

more than $6,000

Other (please specify)

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* 15. If you wrote this course, who owns the copyright?

The university or college

I do

I own copyright but have licensed the course to the institution so they can use it without charge

Don't know

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* 16. Do you edit or update this course?

I am allowed to update it

I am encouraged to update it

I am required to update it

Other people can be assigned to update it

Other people update it independently, so several versions of it run concurrently

Other (please specify)

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* 17. What kinds of academic support to you get to help you teach this course?

A grader for the tests and quizzes

A grader for the discussions

A grader for longer assignments

A research assistant for developing the course

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 18. Do you have a seniority right to teach the course in the future?

Yes, by past practice

Yes, by written agreement or contract

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* 19. If you wrote the course and someone else teaches it for your institution, are you financially compensated?If so, say how much.

Yes

Don't know if someone else teaches it

Other (please specify)

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* 20. Do you supply your own computer?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 21. Do you supply (pay for) your own internet access?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 22. Do you get a contribution from your employer as a technology subsidy?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 23. Do you get tech support?

Yes, by phone

Yes, by email

24 hours a day/7 days a week

easily

with difficulty

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* 24. Where do you do your work for this course?

At home

In an office provided by the institution

Wherever I happen to be, including travelling

Other (please specify)

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* 25. How many students are enrolled in this class? If the answer is "over 40," please give details in comment field.

1-10

10-20

20-40

40-100

over 100

Other (please specify)

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* 26. Do you get paid per student?

Yes

I get a base amount, plus another amount per student over a certain headcount

Other (please specify)

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* 27. How many hours a day do you devote to teaching this class? (Assume it is a regular semester class, 14-17 weeks. if it is a compressed class (7 weeks) divide the actual number by two. (This assumes that if you spend 3 hours a day on a 14-week class, you'd spend 6 hours a day on a compressed class.)

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* 28. What do you get paid to teach this course?

Less than $1000 per course

$1,000 -- $2,000

$2,000 - $3,000

$3,000 - $4,000

$4,000 - $5,000

This is part of my full-time load so I am not paid separately for it

I am paid per student. Put amount in comment box below

Other (please specify)

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* 29. Are you paid:

A flat rate

Depending on how many students enroll

A combination

Other (please specify)

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* 30. Do you get any benefits from your employer?

No.

Employer contribution to healthcare

Employer contribution to retirement

Paid sick days

I get my benefits based on my full-time job, not on my work for this course

Vacation accrual

Holiday pay

Other (please specify)

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* 31. Do you have representation through a union?

Yes

Currently attempting to organize

Attempted to organize in the past, but unsuccesful.

Other (please specify)

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* 32. Do the teachers in your institution who are doing online instruction ever meet together?

No.

Yes, in person

Yes, via internet/skype or other distance technology

Other (please specify)

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* 33. How are you evaluated for this course?

I am not evaluated

Students complete a feedback form

"Greasy wheel" evaluation (that is, when there is a problem)

Individual instructors and their courses, including student feedback, are reviewed and evaluated by administration

My supervisor spot-checks my course and reviews student evaluations

Faculty meet together and evaluate courses and instruction

Other (please specify)

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* 34. What happens when a student makes a complaint about you?

Nothing.

My supervisor backs me up and deals appropriately with the student.

My supervisor talks it over with me and we resolve it in a positive way.

My supervisor talks it over with me and gives me a warning.

I am not re-hired.

Other (please specify)

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* 35. Please tell us briefly anything unique or unusual about your working conditions. This might include the nature of your students, the mission of your institution, location of your students, the content of your class, the nature of your assignments, etc.