The minimum salary for University of Michigan lecturers is $51,000; the average salary for a high school teacher in the state of Michigan is $64,400. U-M lecturers work full-time teaching schedules and are oftentimes renowned authors and contributors to their fields. Even still, they are not fairly compensated for their work. The University needs to step up and start paying its lecturers a fair wage, one that’s up to par with the impact of their contributions and the unique expertise they hold in their area of study.
It’s important in this discussion to clarify the difference between a professor and a lecturer. As defined by U-M Human Resources, a lecturer is any faculty member who is engaged in teaching U-M students while being ineligible for tenure. This means that lecturers need to complete Major Reviews to stay teaching at the University and are held to a higher teaching standard than tenured faculty. Furthermore, if a course doesn’t meet the enrollment minimum to meet, lecturers aren’t paid if the University gives notice within a certain period. Still, lecturers prepare for courses much further in advance of the notice that the University gives them.
Additionally, many lecturers are responsible for teaching courses by themselves and doing the bulk of the grading, an extortionate amount of work, especially when teaching about three to four classes a semester. The University has two different full-time lecturer positions: Lecturer I/II and Lecturer III/IV. The difference between the two is that a Lecturer I/II does not perform any administrative roles, whereas a Lecturer III/IV does. Within these two distinctions, Lecturers I/II are paid less and have not completed a Major Review. There is not much room for advancement outside these positions. The University has established that there is not a clear path to administrative or professor work as a Lecturer I/II. Once someone becomes a lecturer, they, for the most part, remain in that position until they retire or leave the University.
On the other hand, professors are on a tenure track and typically have more assistance teaching. Once a professor reaches tenure status, they have job security for as long as they would like to keep teaching. They are not subject to the same reviews that lecturers are. Professors typically do a percentage of the grading, but more commonly have the assistance of graduate students. They balance teaching and research, only leading one to two classes per semester so they can perform research the other half of the time.
At the University, lecturers also take on a different role than they would at a smaller, less prestigious institution. Typically, lecturers do not need to have a Ph.D., yet U-M professors for the most part do. Many U-M lecturers also engage in research even if it is outside their working hours. Still, this research makes them competitive candidates for teaching positions. It is more likely that the University will hire someone with research experience than one without.
Low lecturer pay is not unique to the University of Michigan. The gap between lecturer pay and professor pay is widening around the country, especially for public universities. In 2022, the University of California, Los Angeles posted a position for an assistant adjunct professor. They wanted someone with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and college teaching experience, and the only catch was that they expected this person to work for free. Universities around the country are prioritizing research over student learning; universities simply make more money producing research than teaching students. As enrollment in colleges increases, it’s less of a concern for universities to focus on the quality of instruction because applicants will still apply.
But why would the University of Michigan pay lecturers more when they don’t have to? Currently, $51,000 is a competitive salary for these positions, and the University is in no shortage of candidates who want to teach.
The University has the opportunity to set itself apart from other large public universities by raising the base salary of lecturers. At a university of 60,000 students, it can be hard for students to truly feel a connection with their professors. Big lecture halls can be daunting for students with instructors seemingly out of reach to students and office hours may be inaccessible for students with class conflicts. The University should hire and showcase lecturers with a commitment to student learning which could help reach a demographic of high school students — potential Wolverines — who are looking for smaller, more personalized experiences in their college education. This could help potentially boost the University’s application rates and make it more marketable to all types of students.
Currently, the Lecturers Employment Organization is negotiating its contract with the University. The University has the opportunity to make consequential changes by fulfilling their demands and showing both students and lecturers that their experience is valued at the University. We cannot expect our students to be the “leaders and the best” without first making sure that those who teach them are made a priority.
Eliza Phares is an Opinion Columnist from Portage, Mich. writing about student life and policy. She can be reached at ephares@umich.edu.