Itaught sociology and courses on the Holocaust and genocide at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, off and on, from 1977 to 2003, and the problems for adjunct faculty, as described in the article “At UMass Lowell, discontent’’ (Business, Dec. 27), were the same. This goes back nearly 40 years, except we were paid between $2,600 and $3,200 per course, while the current minimum is $4,400. So there has not been much of an increase.

What that means is that even if you teach seven courses a semester — a huge number, by the way — you’ll still make barely more than $30,000 a year. It is hard to support a family on such a salary, especially without a pension or health insurance.

You would have thought that the former chancellor of UMass Lowell, Marty Meehan, would have boosted wages for adjuncts; he built up the campus, took away the lovely lawns, erected huge buildings, and increased alumni giving. Furthermore, with the rise of online courses, there is less overhead. So why is there no money for adjuncts?

Finally, people like me would love to come back and teach, but not for $4,400 per course. I would need $6,000 to $8,000 per course to make it worthwhile for me to take time away from my business career. So, these low wages also mean that many good teachers out there are depriving students of their knowledge and experience.

Jack Nusan Porter

Newton