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I am a tenured professor in a public university in USA, with 9-month salary. This Summer, I have been assigned to teach a Summer class, and I just found out that I will not be paid to do that (yes, 0% of salary).

Will it be reasonable to refuse to teach this course in such a situation? Will such refusal be sufficient reason for me to be disciplined?

Timmy
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    Are you on a 12-month contract? Or a 9-month/10-month contract? – Dawn May 17 '23 at 16:00
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    What language does your faculty handbook include about course assignments? – Dawn May 17 '23 at 16:01
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    Does your faculty have a union? What do the terms of your contract say in terms of teaching load? If you are on a 9 month contract then the summer is not a period of obligation. Is summer teaching going to offset teaching in the fall/spring? – Spark May 17 '23 at 16:08
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    @Dawn I only get 9 month salary. In Summer, we have to find our own income. Teaching in the Summer is one way most of my colleagues get Summer income. Handbook does not say anything about Summer courses. – Timmy May 17 '23 at 16:08
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    @Spark No, we do not have a union. Our teaching loads only include Spring and Fall. Summer teaching does not offset teaching in Spring/Fall. – Timmy May 17 '23 at 16:09
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    @Timmy If teaching is the way most of your colleagues get Summer income, why does this particular teaching assignment not result in you getting paid a Summer income? – Bryan Krause May 17 '23 at 16:12
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    I guess you can argue that you aren't obligated to teach in the summer then, at least not without being paid. The fact that others get paid to teach in the summer and you don't seems really strange. – Spark May 17 '23 at 16:12
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    If you are only paid for 9 months then you are not obligated to do anything for the university in the summer. – Spark May 17 '23 at 16:13
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    @BryanKrause The income is a function of number of student enrolled. When enrollment drops below certain threshold, the Summer salary drops to 0%. At least this is what I have been told so far. It is news to me though. – Timmy May 17 '23 at 16:15
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    You really should seek out an employment lawyer. This has some potential to go very wrong for you. – Scott Seidman May 17 '23 at 16:30
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    BTW, it's pretty common that summer courses without a baseline enrollment just get cancelled, and you don't get paid. You need to figure out if that's what is being communicated to you poorly. Some people, myself included, do not participate in summer courses because of that chance. This may or may not be OK with you. There is no way that you should actually teach any summer course with no compensation. – Scott Seidman May 17 '23 at 16:35
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    "When enrollment drops below certain threshold, the Summer salary drops to 0%." Well, then it seems just natural that the number of available teachers also drops to 0. If education is organized as a business, then no business case means no education. – Jochen Glueck May 17 '23 at 16:58
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    @ScottSeidman "...some potential to go very wrong for you." In what way? – Timmy May 17 '23 at 17:05
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    @Timmy -- I have no idea how secure your position is, what conditions your tenure is revokable under, .... Worst case is you lose your job, same as with any labor dispute. Making you work for no money is wage theft. That's the language that you may well need to roll out in discussions. It's also an inflammatory term, and people who accuse their employer of wage theft may be the target of retaliation. – Scott Seidman May 17 '23 at 21:14
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    If your univ. is in Florida, in particular, absolutely anything can happen these days. – Scott Seidman May 17 '23 at 21:16
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    @ScottSeidman Out of curiosity, what’s happening in Florida? – Massimo Ortolano May 18 '23 at 04:21
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    Here's the response I would suggest (NSFW language) – Nate Eldredge May 18 '23 at 07:31
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    @MassimoOrtolano the governor is changing trustees at some public unis, and the new Trustees are working to stop tenure cases or revoke tenure in "woke" fields. – Scott Seidman May 18 '23 at 11:31

3 Answers3

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Yes, it is reasonable to turn down summer teaching assignments if they do not benefit you. This would be doubly true if you were not being paid.

Your situation sounds sufficiently unusual that I wonder if some institutional norms are in play. I would suggest “refusing” in a way that seeks to gently clarify those norms. Something like “I have just learned that the summer course is to be offered without pay. Is this correct, or have I misunderstood? If that is the case, I will unfortunately be unable to teach it. I am happy to discuss teaching this topic when I am back on contract and the course will be counted toward my teaching load. ”

Dawn
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Generally, a 9month Tenured isn't obligated to take summer classes without compensation. Also, typically a Tenured would not take more than two consecutive summer classes. It tilts towards illegality.

However, it is not uncommon for some universities or school or department to include a clause in their policy along the line of ... Summer classes will be assigned based on the best interests of the university/school/dept. What is 'best interest' is left imagining!
PS: even at that, not that the Tenured can just be bamboozled or compelled with recourse.

Kindly check your institution policy and take it from there. If you have union, get feedback from there: they might want to take it up for you.
If your policy has a resolution clause, explore the route provided.

If you're being singled for 'no pay', raised it firmly with facts yet respectfully. It might sit on #discrimination leg.

[Edit] Might be worthwhile scanning through the #reddit post The legality of Requiring Work Over Summer for 9 Month Contracts.
NB: any advice/comment bothering on law on a faceless forum shouldn't be construed as legal advice.

semmyk-research
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Unethical, wrong, exploitative from the university? Yes. Grounds for disciplinary action against the professor? Hmm. Maybe. It really depends on your contract. Do you have a union? Ask the grievance officer. As others have said in comments, it really depends on the exact language of the contract. Most people think that tenure is some generally-agreed term, akin to a constitutional right, but in reality it's just a specific contract between the university and you. In general, it protects you from firing due to speech inside of the classroom, but tenured professors have been fired for all sorts of reasons, large and small, including classroom speech. Some contracts have enough loopholes to drive a truck through. So yes, bring up the issue, but tread carefully.

Cheery
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