Lecturer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A lecturer ( LB ) is a person who at a university holds classes and is also active as Chairman examination occasionally without spending generally in an employment relationship to be associated with this university. In most cases, the lecturer is therefore paid on a fee basis or carries out his work free of charge. In American parlance, the adjunct professor is used.

Legal status

In contrast to professors or academic councilors, the lecturer does not have a civil servant status and, in contrast to academic or artistic employees, has no employment relationship with the university. He is usually a freelancer at the university. The freelance workforce can, however, also be structured as a public service relationship with the university body (e.g. in the state of Baden-Württemberg, see Section 56, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 LHG BaWü, and in the Free State of Bavaria, see teaching assignment and teaching remuneration regulations for the state universities).

Depending on suitability and the stipulations of regulatory regulations (State University Act ), a lecturer can be appointed honorary professor after several years of activity , especially if it is a habilitation scientist. An appointment as honorary senator is also possible.

The requirements for lecturers may vary depending on the country and university, but a university degree is usually mandatory. From the point of view of the universities, awarding teaching assignments makes economic sense, as a lecturer receives far less salary than a regular lecturer and sometimes even works free of charge in order to be able to demonstrate experience in university teaching. For this reason, the practice is often criticized because it borders on exploitation.

Economic situation

development

The original purpose of lecturers was to attract lecturers from professional practice in order to meaningfully supplement the courses offered by full-time lecturers at universities . Lecturers were given the opportunity to distinguish themselves.

It has long been the practice for higher education institutes to have a base of proven lecturers. Teaching at universities could often not be guaranteed without the courses offered by their lecturers.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were over 49,000 lecturers in Germany in 2005. According PRO that group inherits at universities up to nine at colleges even between 25 and 50 percent of the courses. This ratio is particularly extreme at conservatoires.

Among other things, budget cuts at universities have led to the fact that lecturers are also used to save costs. The remuneration is usually considerably lower than that of full-time teachers. This is particularly worrying because, according to a study of the work and life situation of teaching staff, 46% of teaching staff in Berlin stated that teaching positions were their main source of income.

Lecturers are usually self-employed. In contrast to civil servants or employees in the teaching company, lecturers must therefore take out full health insurance and build up an old-age insurance themselves. It should be noted that self-employed lecturers are usually compulsorily insured in the statutory pension insurance according to § 2 SGB VI, but have to pay their contributions themselves in full. Similarly, workers and civil servants are entitled to rights such as missing sick leave or relaxing holiday or a dismissal . The teaching assignment can be "canceled" at any time; There is no protection against dismissal even with long-term employment. The lecturer is liable for himself and his work with, if necessary, his own liability and accident insurance.

In 2011 the art college advisory council of North Rhine-Westphalia called for better conditions for lecturers: The remuneration had not been increased since 2002; their increase is urgent and indispensable.

Reward

The remuneration of the lecturers varies greatly in the individual federal states. Depending on the level of qualification, between € 16.09 and € 55 per lesson are paid.

At the scientific universities of the State of Schleswig-Holstein , 16.46 € to 29.05 € are paid for teaching assignments per hour taught to all those who have completed a degree but have not yet received their habilitation. Those who have completed their habilitation are paid € 28.22 to € 51.98. Any activities associated with teaching such as preparation of lessons, individual instructions, corrections, participation in exams, conferences and the like are covered by the remuneration. This means that a lecturer will only receive around 500 euros per semester for taking on a course amounting to 2 hours per  week for the entire course including preparation etc. A professor receives up to 1500 euros for the same activity and also receives a basic salary.

At the dual universities in Baden-Württemberg , a lecturer is paid 42 euros per teaching unit (45 minutes).

In 2018, the Senate Chancellery in Berlin ordered a staggered increase in remuneration and an assessment based on qualifications and the type of course. This provides for a gradual increase in the minimum remuneration from € 35.00 in 2018 to € 40.21 in 2022 per teaching hour, and remuneration for participation in examinations is also specified.

Unpaid teaching positions

In some cases, teaching is not remunerated: In particular, people who strive for a scientific career but do not hold a teaching position often take on unpaid teaching positions in order to gain teaching experience in this way.

Representation in university bodies

Lecturers are not represented with a seat and vote in most university bodies, as they are not academic or artistic employees (employees or civil servants) at the university. It is not decisive that, according to the respective state university laws, they are university members or are in a public service relationship with the university body (e.g. the state of Baden-Württemberg, cf. § 56 para. 2 sentence 2 LHG BaWü), prospective academics train and be evaluated. This means that they are excluded from university self-administration. This is sometimes criticized as a democratic deficit.

In the state of Berlin, lecturers and visiting teachers are members of the university according to §43 (1) 6th BerlHG and can therefore participate in self-administration committees.

Advocacy groups

The difficult situation of many lecturers in recent years has led them to increasingly articulate their interests to politics, universities and the public. The trade unions ver.di and GEW also advocate the interests of the lecturers. There are now interest groups at a number of universities. This applies in particular to the lecturers at conservatoires and language instructors, who meanwhile also have nationwide representatives ( Federal Conference of Instructors at Music Universities (BKLM) and Federal Conference of Language Teachers (BKSL)). From a legal point of view, this area is particularly complex and is handled differently in different countries. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, no fee is paid, but a fee that is subject to social security contributions, which is fixed for 12 months as part of the teaching assignment.

Lecturer in other areas of education

In general education schools, too, staff who are usually hired to fill gaps that cannot be filled by the permanent staff are referred to as lecturers. Lecturers at general schools are, similar to those at universities, generally not civil servants and either work as employees of the school or as a freelance worker.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A special exception are the lecturers at conservatoires, who are also appointed as chairpersons of examinations and, in this context, are involved as instructors in the work organization of the instructor (see Social Code IV, 7). In North Rhine-Westphalia this employment relationship is treated as a non-self-employed activity and taxes and social security contributions are paid by the responsible state office.
  2. ↑ In the NRW decree of May 5, 1981 (p. 5, footnote), the legal basis for teaching assignments at NRW music academies, these teaching assignments are defined as a "dependent activity".
  3. ↑ Free State of Bavaria: Teaching assignment and teaching remuneration regulations for state universities of November 3, 2008
  4. ↑ cf. e.g. for Bavaria: Art. 31 I 4 BayHSchPG i. V. m. Art. 7 I 1 No. 1 BayHSchPG
  5. ↑ In a job advertisement for half a mid-level construction position (LfbA music theory for the winter semester 2017/18) at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf, it is pointed out that the 850 students there are taught by 45 full-time and part-time professors and more than 200 lecturers. In many cases, the scope of these teaching assignments is 10 hours per week.
  6. ↑ Results of the survey of Berlin lecturers - study by the Institute for Sociology at the Free University of Berlin and the GEW Berlin 2006, gew-berlin.de .
  7. ↑ The aforementioned regulations only apply to a limited extent to the lecturers at music colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia, especially since there is also continued payment of remuneration for up to 6 weeks in the event of illness. Taxes and social security contributions are paid here by the state office.
  8. ↑ The universities use a different form of expression here and speak in this context of the fact that the teaching assignment may not be extended. The termination of the activity is in the colloquial sense, but not a termination in legal terms. In German jurisprudence, the question is currently being discussed whether lecturers are not just as vulnerable as other employees. According to a ruling by the Cologne Administrative Court, European case law should therefore be applied to lecturers
  9. ↑ Rheinische Post , May 12, 2011, p. A7.
  10. ↑ https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/info_blaetter/info0109.pdf
  11. ↑ § 101 HSG i. d. F. of May 4, 2000 - GVOBl. Schl.-HS 416
    Decree of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Culture of April 16, 2002 - III 241 - 3172.61
  12. ↑ Order of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Culture of June 26, 1997 - III 2901 - 3172.33.
  13. ↑ The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Senate Chancellery: Implementing Regulations on the Amount of Lecturer Remuneration, Announcement of June 8, 2018. Official Journal for Berlin 68th vol. No. 26 of June 29, 2018, p. 3437
  14. ^ Law on Universities in the State of Berlin (Berlin Higher Education Act - BerlHG), § 43 Members of the University
  15. ↑ Lecturers earn more! Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
  16. ↑ BKLM
  17. ↑ BKSL