TODAY reported today that NTU lecturers get offered the Associate Professorial Fellowship when they turn 55. Wow, Associate Professorial Fellowship (APF). Sounds impressive, doesn't it?
Ah, but the APF is actually a 'half-time, half-pay' scheme (i.e. half your current workload and salary) that is offered, from what I understand, on a 'take it or leave it' basis. That is, take up the scheme or leave the uni.
Now, I'm not a HR person, nor do I know anything about labour laws, but I just feel this is pretty heartless. The lecturer who was interviewed said he was shocked to get this 'offer' after serving there for 25 years. Worse, it's not just about being downsized as a lecturer in terms of time and pay. Here's what else comes along with the 'offer':
emove out of your old office and share one with another above-55 colleague
e teach the same number of hours; in other words, you work the same number of hours and days as before
The HR VP of NTU explained that:
i this scheme has been around since the 1990s
i the full workload includes teaching, research and service (what kind of service do they mean?), so teaching the same number of hours is still half the load (since they have so generously exempted you from research and service)
The first question I had was: why 55? I'm sure many of us have been taught by people aged around 55 and people even older than that. Were they any worse teachers or lecturers than younger ones? Not necessarily, right? Were there worse teachers and lecturers who were younger than 55? Probably, right?
Many people at age 55 can still work at their normal 'full' capacity, so why can't they at least be given the choice to opt for this half-pay scheme? Furthermore, at age 55, your financial commitments are probably unchanged. In fact, maybe you will be financing your children's uni education at that point and we all know how tuition fees have been rising and rising (and shouldn't NTU know that), so how are people going to cope with half their usual salary?
Anyway, so what if the scheme is that old? Maybe it's time for a change?
In comparison, the NUS and SMU tenures are till age 65 (a good 10 more years, mind you), and the tenures in Australian unis are for life or whenever the lecturer decides to quit.
Also, my friend GNH and I can vouch that when we worked under part-time schemes (with different employers, okay), we worked fewer hours/days and we kept our old workstations, i.e., didn't have to share space with other part-timers.
The last part of the article stated that NTU has this online resignation web portal. Fancy that. I once resigned by filling in a form and I thought that was so impersonal. This web portal thing is by far worse!
The prof who was interviewed said:
'Nowhere else can you resign with one click. I may be using it soon.'
Poor man. But at least he still retains a sense of humour.
Heartless... heartless...
Err... were we ever told that this was a world-class uni?
Ah, but the APF is actually a 'half-time, half-pay' scheme (i.e. half your current workload and salary) that is offered, from what I understand, on a 'take it or leave it' basis. That is, take up the scheme or leave the uni.
Now, I'm not a HR person, nor do I know anything about labour laws, but I just feel this is pretty heartless. The lecturer who was interviewed said he was shocked to get this 'offer' after serving there for 25 years. Worse, it's not just about being downsized as a lecturer in terms of time and pay. Here's what else comes along with the 'offer':
emove out of your old office and share one with another above-55 colleague
e teach the same number of hours; in other words, you work the same number of hours and days as before
The HR VP of NTU explained that:
i this scheme has been around since the 1990s
i the full workload includes teaching, research and service (what kind of service do they mean?), so teaching the same number of hours is still half the load (since they have so generously exempted you from research and service)
The first question I had was: why 55? I'm sure many of us have been taught by people aged around 55 and people even older than that. Were they any worse teachers or lecturers than younger ones? Not necessarily, right? Were there worse teachers and lecturers who were younger than 55? Probably, right?
Many people at age 55 can still work at their normal 'full' capacity, so why can't they at least be given the choice to opt for this half-pay scheme? Furthermore, at age 55, your financial commitments are probably unchanged. In fact, maybe you will be financing your children's uni education at that point and we all know how tuition fees have been rising and rising (and shouldn't NTU know that), so how are people going to cope with half their usual salary?
Anyway, so what if the scheme is that old? Maybe it's time for a change?
In comparison, the NUS and SMU tenures are till age 65 (a good 10 more years, mind you), and the tenures in Australian unis are for life or whenever the lecturer decides to quit.
Also, my friend GNH and I can vouch that when we worked under part-time schemes (with different employers, okay), we worked fewer hours/days and we kept our old workstations, i.e., didn't have to share space with other part-timers.
The last part of the article stated that NTU has this online resignation web portal. Fancy that. I once resigned by filling in a form and I thought that was so impersonal. This web portal thing is by far worse!
The prof who was interviewed said:
'Nowhere else can you resign with one click. I may be using it soon.'
Poor man. But at least he still retains a sense of humour.
Heartless... heartless...
Err... were we ever told that this was a world-class uni?
Comments
Ya lor. Imagine turning 55, in this day and age, and being told in no uncertain terms that it's time to take a backseat.