Contacting the Ombuds Office

I've decided that elements of my current employer fall within the range of labor violations, so I contacted the University Ombudsman's office.

I teach a class with 12 students. I grade their assignments within a reasonable time frame.

The next class I receive has 18 students. Two drop the class. I grade the 16 remaining students' assignments under greater time constraints.

This simple comparison is an example of the impact that manipulating the classroom size has upon my workload. A class with 4 more students than 12 is 33% larger, and the class of 16 provides no more financial compensation than the class of 12. I'm paid by the contract. Class size isn't indicated in the contract, just its course number, title, and the dates that it will be in session. Class size isn't a condition of the contract; my behavior is. I sign the contract digitally as recognition that I will adhere to the standards of conduct, which inhere to the contract. Sticky situation.

I have choices about how I conduct the class of 16 to maintain the same workload. To do so will be at the student's expense. The University of Phoenix charges undergraduate students pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business and Management through the Online campus $530 per credit hour plus an $85 fee for access to books and the library. Since the course I teach fulfills three credit hours, a student pays $1675 to the University to earn three credits toward the fulfillment of a degree; that is, if they pass the course. A class of 16 nets the University $26,800. Of that, the University pays me less than one thousand dollars. The university overwhelmingly gains in this transaction.

But I add value. I'm the non-machine counterpart who operates as the cog. I'm the spinning wheel, the algorithm, the force-relation mechanism, the contraption. I'm the obstacle course, which the student must pass for educational credit. The University grades the cost of individual credit hours, using a scale that increases with each successive degree. A Bachelor's degree costs more per credit hour than the Associate's degree. The value inherent in the University's model is the level of the degree. The value is in the outcome. The value I add to this outcome stems from the unpredictability that I add to it. I have a choice that isn't merely governed by a feedback mechanism or how I choose to use the University's feedback feature. I have a choice irrespective of the structure of the class on how to discuss the content of the class. Unpredictability in a structured environment is its operational character. The value of unpredictability lies in the depth that it brings to the flattened, serially reproduced content of the course.

I get paid regardless of what I add to the course, within reason. My contract requires me to conduct myself professionally in the classroom. How the University monitors my adherence to this contract is reflected in the minimums of post count and weekly activity. The algorithms that track this also search my posts for text strings flagged as 'questionable content' in order to track my conduct.

Alas, what's missing is that the credits, credit hours, and the final degree are what contains the value. The diploma is the official document, which opens doors, grants raises, and expands the value of the employee. Businesses set this value through their practices of awarding those with a higher degree accordingly. Students seek this value by pursuing a degree. The University sets up shop, gets accreditation, and hires me to teach a course. My course is just a stop on the journey to the student-worker's degree and diploma. But I'm the real content. The diploma is a symbol, a synecdoche of what I provided for the student. I graded the student's papers. I graded the student's tests. I provided the student with reinforcement, guidance, and an expert voice in the discussion of organizational communication. I'm the value in the education. I don't grant the student the raise though; the diploma does.