photos by Kayla Mcillen
writing by Skye McEowen
“I just think it’s so nice that you professionals take your spare time to teach students.”
At one dinner event in Lakeland Community College, adjunct faculty member Susan Zimmerman rendezvoused with her colleagues. Sometimes, board members attended.
“She had no idea that most of those adjunct faculty members in the room were trying to earn a living,” Zimmerman says, recalling the female board member’s comment.
During the days she commuted to Kent twice a week, the inflated gas prices became a cause of concern — nearing four dollars a gallon.
“Hard to imagine that now, so sometimes I was rolling pennies to buy enough gas to drive down to Kent,” Zimmerman recalls.
Zimmerman has been in the journalism field for several decades. From high school, to being Editor of the Kent Stater in 1971 and working for several newspapers and trade magazines throughout her career, Zimmerman fell into her passion for teaching other aspiring writers. Though not a part of the Part-Time Faculty Alliance, Zimmerman has been an adjunct since 2004, where she now serves in the same position at Cuyahoga Community College and Kent State University.
“It’s always about the students,” Zimmerman says, smiling, and wearing her Kent State hoodie. One meticulous teaching endeavor occupied 17 hours of her time, grading every comma and AP style instance on her students’ first news writing draft. In 2012, a student even nominated her for a Kent State Outstanding Teacher Award.
She now spends 40 hours a week — a downsize from 60 to 80 thanks to her social security — in between teaching in person, online and grading. However, the financial situation was never easy.
Despite the disadvantages, not joining the Alliance was due to the lack of time to be involved, and fear that she may not be asked to come back the next semester. Even then, the next one is never guaranteed for adjuncts.
“It’s an anxious way to make a living,” Zimmerman says.