16 January 2008

Yet Another Reason....

why the big, bloated state university which I attend will never see a penny of my alumni dollars.

So we got paid today. Usually this is a good thing-- a very good thing. But when we looked at the amounts, they didn't seem right. Then, when I emailed our lovely departmental secretaries about it, I got the explanation. Turns out that getting a fellowship means getting a pay cut of about $200 per month.

Great.

So much for the fellowship's supposed goal to ease my stress and workload by giving me a release from teaching one class. Now, I'm making about $800 less this semester, so I have brand new things to stress about.

Some "award."

I know I should have read the fine print, should have tallied up the amounts before I accepted the award, and all, but I thought that a 33% appointment was a 33% appointment. That one would equal the other. They really should be more explicit about these things. Because when you live on a tight budget, with a child, and a mortgage, and bills, and car repairs... $800 is a whole lot of something.

uf.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this coming month is going to be pretty stinky. Since fellowship payments won't kick in until February, we fellowship peeps have to live on half a paycheck (or less!) for the next month. :(

Lisa Dunick said...

Tell me about it. It just seems like they should have been a little more explicit in warning us. I know they said that the fellowship didn't start until the 16th, but I wasn't understanding that it meant that I wouldn't get paid.

EB said...

Also. . . in case you didn't see the other fine print. . . that fellowship money doesn't get taxed, so when tax time comes around, you're probably going to owe some for that fellowship.

Blegh.