CUNY PhD in English

[allaboutmedieval]

I'm new to GradCafe and posted this in April 15 Freak-out forum. Someone suggested I post it in the lit forum to get responses from people with CUNY English experience. Thanks!

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Hi, new to the forums, so thanks for any feedback you can provide. I was accepted off the wait list for CUNY's PhD in English for Fall 2011 yesterday. I have until Friday to make a decision, according to the email. However, I'm not getting full funding (ECF) and have only been offered "first-year teaching internship at a CUNY college for any student who does not receive an ECF. Students who teach at a CUNY college receive a salary as well as a fellowship that covers in-state tuition."

I wrote back questioning whether the adjunct job (and tuition waiver) was for the duration of my PhD. She said "We will arrange a first-year teaching internship for the first year--and then after that you're on your own. Some people keep teaching at the school they are initially placed at, and others go elsewhere. We do not guarantee ongoing adjunct employment after the first year--but we do place you for the first year, and that does carry an IN-STATE tuition waiver."

Always encouraging to hear someone asking you to pay for your PhD say 'you're on your own.'

I'm worried about the mercenary nature of this. CUNY accepts a large class and put them all to work in non-guranteed positions, making them dependent not on any kind of living wage but the in-state tuition waiver which makes their studies possible (mind you, if you are moving to NY to start the program, you have to pay the difference between in-state and out of state for the first year until your residency takes). I'm from Jersey and am familiar with NYC, so that itself isn't an issue.

I know the CUNY English Phd is ranked very well so I imagine I'm misunderstanding the crux of this somehow. None of this seems to be the norm, however, at least compared to the seven other schools I applied to (seven rejections). As this is my only acceptance, and after a dispiriting few months of rejections (some from worse-ranked schools), it's hard to fathom that I'd turn down an offer an admission with no guarantee for better luck when re-applying next year. However, it's also hard to fathom scrambling during my second or third year for possibly non-existent or unattractive adjunct positions all over the bureaucracy of CUNY. My professors at both undergrad and grad (I'm finishing my MA at American U.) cautioned against paying for a PhD anywhere that would ask you to, particularly when earning a pittance.

And naturally I have two days to decide. I've perused the forums a bit and found some bits of info about CUNY's adjunct process but found nothing too helpful or encouraging. Any advice, ideas, thoughts, stories from CUNY, ANYTHING, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[KRC]

Unless there's the possibility of getting full funding for the remainder of your degree next year--I know a lot of programs don't offer anything for first year students--I'd say bail on them. It's a tough, tough decision but paying for your PhD in the humanities is a no no, especially in New York City. I downplay the economics of obtaining a humanities doctorate in conversation with non-academic friends as often as I can, but this scenario has red flags all over it, especially the "you're on your own" comment. Have you tried external funding sources? I'm not very familiar with CUNY, but presumably they offer in-state tuition so if you're a NY resident and you can secure external funding, it ***may*** be possible.

Good luck!

(there's also no shame in applying again next year)

[hopefulwoolfian]

I met a grad student who did his MA at CUNY. He said it was very difficult to make ends meet teaching there and they threw him into teaching two 35-person classes after a week of orientation. He finished his MA there, but took a PhD offer somewhere else because of the difficulty of balancing teaching requirements, working non-university jobs to afford the cost of living in NYC, and his classwork. I got the feeling from him that the academics there were great but it was severely hindered by the crazy teaching conditions/lack of stable funding. It did get him a funded offer at a PhD program, however.

From my own personal experience, I declined an unfunded MA from NYU last year because I didn't want to go into debt for an MA. I worked very hard on my reapplication and got a funded PhD offer this year. Waiting another year did suck, but it put me in a much, much better place. So it's definitely possible to recover from a bad season!

[allaboutmedieval]

I met a grad student who did his MA at CUNY. He said it was very difficult to make ends meet teaching there and they threw him into teaching two 35-person classes after a week of orientation. He finished his MA there, but took a PhD offer somewhere else because of the difficulty of balancing teaching requirements, working non-university jobs to afford the cost of living in NYC, and his classwork. I got the feeling from him that the academics there were great but it was severely hindered by the crazy teaching conditions/lack of stable funding. It did get him a funded offer at a PhD program, however.

From my own personal experience, I declined an unfunded MA from NYU last year because I didn't want to go into debt for an MA. I worked very hard on my reapplication and got a funded PhD offer this year. Waiting another year did suck, but it put me in a much, much better place. So it's definitely possible to recover from a bad season!

Thanks. I was in a similar situation as you two years ago when faced with unfunded MAs, but was able to finagle full funding from American U. So I applied to PhDs this year with the funded MA in my back pocket. Apparently made no difference, except to CUNY.

I should also say that the 'you're on your own 'comment is more that I'm on my own finding adjunct work at CUNY, not on my own finding any work at all.

Edited April 13, 2011 by akrizel

[allaboutmedieval]

I should say that the CUNY person responded to my emails, saying that she gets the sense that 'almost all of our students are able to find adjunct work.'

"We do want to say that adjunct funding is getting a bit tighter due to budget problems, but my observation of our current students suggests to me that they are all finding adjunct teaching of one kind or another, if they are out there actually looking for it."

Not a guarantee, but not damning either. Anyone out there with experience at CUNY, past or present?

[Finnegan'sAwake]

I just wanted to add my two cents, for what it's worth. I've been adjuncting at CUNY for the last two years with an MFA, and I have had no trouble maintaining a 3/3 teaching appointment (plus I've been offered summer courses two years in a row). I was accepted into CUNY's PhD program this year as well (also without an ECF), and, while it's not the most ideal situation, I'm pretty stoked about the opportunity--and you should be too! Teaching, you'll find, goes hand-in-hand with scholarship. Your students will inspire you, as will your colleagues. Plus, you'll leave the program with 6+ years teaching experience--and that's invaluable. I say go for it--I didn't have to think twice myself. If you have any questions about the logistics of adjuncting, though, let me know. If your main hang-up is the insecurity of job retainment, I can assure you it's not as fickle a system as it may seem. You'll be fine!