The Advocate

Introducing the new
DSC Adjunct Project Coordinator...

The DSC is happy to announce the hire of Mariya Gluzman beginning on November 1. This former Hunter College student, who is articulate and knowledgeable about CUNY, intends to be “proactive and aggressive in this position.”

She shows awareness of the needs of adjunct instructors on specific campuses employing a realistic yet energetic outlook in addressing these needs. “I believe in public education—not in the ideal but in the flawed, often frustrating, but ultimately socially beneficent institution.”

Ms. Gluzman will begin by attending one or more contract negotiating sessions being held now between the PSC (Professional Staff Congress) and the BOT (CUNY Board of Trustees). As a web/graphic designer she will work closely with the DSC webmaster to ensure constant communication through the DSC’s website. Her office will be Graduate Center room 5398 (5th floor). We look forward to a close working relationship with Mariya Gluzman.

Dear colleagues:

I’m pleased to introduce myself as the new Adjunct Project Coordinator—your liaison with the Professional Staff Congress, the union that represents CUNY’s teaching, research, and library faculty. If you are an adjunct and/or grad assistant at any CUNY campus, you are covered by the PSC contract being negotiated right now. Some of the issues on the table that concern you directly are: unemployment insurance for part-timers, job security, and tuition assistance. Staying informed and getting involved would ensure that these and other important issues get the attention they deserve.

As a graduate student (MA program in Philosophy) and an Adjunct Lecturer at Brooklyn College for the last three years, I am painfully aware of all the inequities we presently endure as students and instructors. We have laughable wages, no job security, lousy benefits (if we have any at all, that is) and get no appreciation for all the extra hours we put in. It is my sincere hope that the ongoing contract negotiations bring about a better working environment for us all. We need it.

I encourage all of you to contact me with any suggestions on how I can help make all of our jobs easier and our teaching experience less excruciating—whether by answering your questions or referring you to the appropriate resource. In the meantime, look for such community resources as a repository of course syllabi, course textbook suggestions, teaching tips, and others, that are in the process of being created on this website. If you have a syllabus you would like to share or would like to recommend a textbook that you have found especially helpful, please, send that on to me and I will add it to the appropriate section. I am available to answer your questions either in person in room 5498 or by email at mgluzman@gc.cuny.edu. I will always be glad to hear from you.

Mariya Gluzman
Adjunct Project Coordinator