Institute dismisses Professor Ebon Fisher
Former Stevens employee voices concerns regarding paygrade of affiliate professors
Matt Neuteboom
Issue date: 7/2/09 Section: Campus News
On the morning of June 4, Prof. Ebon Fisher was surprised to find that he was no longer working at Stevens Institute of Technology. Fisher, who was making $44,000 a year plus basic benefits according to an article in Inside Higher Ed, had sent a letter to the Stevens administration urging them to address the low wages of affiliate professors. The next day, he was hand-delivered a letter of dismissal from Vice President of Human Resources Mark Samolewicz and was escorted out of the building by school security. Fisher has not yet received any official reason for his dismissal. The letter he received simply informed him that he had been terminated.
Fisher, who had been teaching at Stevens for 3 years, was struggling to make ends meet on his salary as an affiliate professor. Fisher had been teaching three classes per semester while also conducting research and working on other projects. He had been carrying around a sleeping bag and suitcase to various friends' apartments to sleep each night, and was also commuting from his father's house in Central Jersey. He had already sent his family to Chicago to find adequate housing and a decent education system for his son.
Fisher said, "The crux of the matter is that the New York and Hoboken area is the most expensive real estate in the country. You have to find a neighborhood that you can not only afford to rent in, but also a neighborhood that has a good enough school so that you don't jeopardize your children's education." He added, "My family has had to split up…that's a pretty grotesque sacrifice."
On June 3, Fisher sent a letter to Stevens administration addressing the issues of surviving on a full-time affiliate professor's salary. According to Fisher, affiliate professors are paid half of Stevens average salary, even if they work full-time. Fisher said, "They tag on the term affiliate, as if that somehow justifies paying me and the other affiliates half [pay], even though it is full-time work…and they acknowledge that we do research just like other tenure-track professors."
Fisher, who had been teaching at Stevens for 3 years, was struggling to make ends meet on his salary as an affiliate professor. Fisher had been teaching three classes per semester while also conducting research and working on other projects. He had been carrying around a sleeping bag and suitcase to various friends' apartments to sleep each night, and was also commuting from his father's house in Central Jersey. He had already sent his family to Chicago to find adequate housing and a decent education system for his son.
Fisher said, "The crux of the matter is that the New York and Hoboken area is the most expensive real estate in the country. You have to find a neighborhood that you can not only afford to rent in, but also a neighborhood that has a good enough school so that you don't jeopardize your children's education." He added, "My family has had to split up…that's a pretty grotesque sacrifice."
On June 3, Fisher sent a letter to Stevens administration addressing the issues of surviving on a full-time affiliate professor's salary. According to Fisher, affiliate professors are paid half of Stevens average salary, even if they work full-time. Fisher said, "They tag on the term affiliate, as if that somehow justifies paying me and the other affiliates half [pay], even though it is full-time work…and they acknowledge that we do research just like other tenure-track professors."