Alberta: Struggling Sessionals

Gauntlet News: Struggling sessionals

It’s a generally-accepted view that university professors are paid more than burger-flippers. However, many students would be shocked and appalled to learn the wages at McDonalds are significantly higher than those received by a full quarter of the university’s teaching staff.

Sessional instructors at the university comprise 25.7 per cent of the overall academic staff. As opposed to tenured professors, who are contracted by the University of Calgary to teach on an ongoing basis, sessional instructors are given a set stipend per class they teach and are often seen as little more than auxiliary staff.

According to The University of Calgary Faculty Association president Anne Stalker, there are over 500 sessional instructors at the university with an additional 200 or so on contingency terms.

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