Lecturer Jennifer Beard Participates in Adjuncts' National Walkout Day

INSIDE HIGHER ED -- The protest at the art institute — where adjuncts are hoping to negotiate their first contract as part of an SEIU-affiliated union — attracted participants from other area unions, including those that represent nurses and fast-food workers, as well as faculty from the City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University. Jessica Beard, an adjunct instructor of English at SF State and the art institute, estimated there were up to 80 people involved at any given time, from student printmakers creating protest posters to tenure-line faculty members speaking in solidarity with their non-tenure-track colleagues. Beard said organizers would have liked to see everyone walk out of their classes, but it became clear in planning that not enough students or members of the public knew enough about adjunct faculty employment conditions to support the move. “Our main goal was to have visibility for our cause, and it seemed like that really worked,” Beard says.