Guest Lecturer: Who is to be blamed?

Guest lecturers are enormous benefit to any educational institution or University. They allow for higher enrollments in an aided college helping them to get more money. They save the Government money. They are being paid less than the permanent faculty. If they do not perform well, they will simply not recruited in the next year.

At the same time, we cannot think of removing this problem. But, their terms, situations, conditions of employment must be adequate or improved. Their problem must be viewed as connected with many other aspects of higher education. The use of Guest Faculty has increased throughout the higher education system, not only in our country, but also in the west. In America, 64 per cent of community college faculty are guest faculty or part time faculty. The proportion of guest faculty is more in humanities, compared to other streams. They are being paid less salary, no research incentives, no evaluation and feedback, no API Scores, less access to professional development activities, less ability to engage in research, no involvement in the institutional governance, less job security, less information on professional expectations, no retirement benefits, less time to prepare to class due to other engagements, generally assigned less interesting subjects.

This cost cutting strategy of Government or aided college lessens job opportunities in the academic professions and lowers salaries for entering full time permanent and diminishes the quality of fresh recruits. It leads program incoherence and decreased faculty involvement and in the student learning. It hinders departments of qualified people needed to perform these important functions while overburdens permanent faculty members with additional work such as organsing the seminars, conferences, fests, even with tasks  of hiring, mentoring and supervising temporary faculty who are disconnected with these tasks. It created a sort of Brahmincal hierarchy, where the tenured faculty enjoys academic careers and compensation according to his qualification and degree, while those untouchables are treated poorly from semester to semester with no career prospects.