The VCUarts adjunct workers' protests were a series of protests in late 2017 into early 2018 by adjunct professors employed by Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU full-time, tenured professors, and VCU students protesting over low pay, lack of benefits, and long working hours.
The VCU School of the Arts is the art school for Virginia Commonwealth University, a public-research university located in Richmond, Virginia.[1] The School of the Arts, branded as VCUarts, is a nationally recognized art program,[2][3] which employs around 400 professors on its academic staff. Approximately 202 of these teachers in VCUarts are adjunct professors,[4] who are contractual professors who are paid by credit hour and do not receive employee benefits.[5]
Most adjunct professors at VCU, including the School of the Arts are paid about $800 per credit hour they teach, and are limited to two or three classes they can teach per semester. This ultimately leaves them earning a potential annual salary of approximately $15,000, which is just above the federal poverty line.[6] According to a report from Style Weekly, most VCUarts adjuncts make about $10,000 per year, which ranks last of the Top-10 art schools from U.S. News & World Report.[4] In the fall of 2017, adjunct professors began organizing and formed a coalition known as "VCU Adjuncts for Fair Pay".[7]
In December 2017 and again in February 2018 the group protested the lack of pay, and protested in the propose raise in adjunct pay from $800 to $1,000 per credit hour, demanding that it is raised to $2,000 per credit hour. Such a raise would allow a full-time adjunct professor to earn close to $36,000 per year.[8][9] The group further attacked Michael Rao and his administration for having nearly $1 billion in endowment and used monies to purchase a night club off the VCU Campus.
VCU's Vice President for Finance and Budget Karol Kain Gray said in response that the low pay for adjunct faculty was becoming a morale issue.[10] The Board of Visitors approved a budget for the 2018-19 school year that increased adjunct pay from $800 per credit hour to $1,000 per credit hour, which was about $1,000 less than what the VCU Adjuncts Organizing For Fair Pay demanded.[10]
The reception from students, especially art students, was positive. Most of the people in the protests were reported to be students in the VCUarts program.[8]
