Several recommendations of the Adjunct Faculty Committee – including
a 3 percent salary increase – will be adopted, announced Interim Deputy
Provost Luis Torres.
“The College is really trying to respond to the needs of the adjunct faculty,” Torres said.
The committee, formed by President Stephen Jordan shortly after his
arrival in July 2005, submitted a final report in May of 2006, the
proposals of which College administration has been considering,
according to Torres.
The increase in pay will take effect in the 2008-09
academic year. It is the second salary increase since Jordan
announced at his inaugural Welcoming Ceremony in fall of 2005 that
addressing the status of part-time faculty was one of his priorities.
The first salary increase, of an average 25 percent, was effective
spring semester 2006.
Along with the new salary increase, the committee also proposed that
Metro State offer health insurance benefits to adjunct faculty. This
recommendation is one that the College will not be able to implement in
the foreseeable future, Torres said, explaining that several aspects of
the health insurance benefits offered at the College would make this
“nearly prohibitive” to implement.
A new title
A second committee recommendation that will be adopted is the change in title from adjunct or part-time faculty to affiliate faculty to acknowledge the important role they fulfill at the College, Torres said. An accompanying proposal that a rank of senior affiliate faculty
for those who have "demonstrated their commitment to the academic
mission of Metro State and who have demonstrated excellence in
teaching" over a certain period of time is under consideration.
Lockers
The College will also provide 300 lockers to
affiliate faculty who don’t have an assigned, secure semi-private or
better office. As there is not enough space available to accommodate
all affiliate faculty members, the lockers will be assigned on a
first-come, first-served basis. Now in the final planning stages, the
goal is to have secure, adequately sized lockers in place by the start
of fall semester, according to Torres.
Orientation
An orientation session for affiliate faculty
will be held Wednesday, Aug. 6, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Tivoli Turnhalle.
While it is designed for new hires, current affiliate faculty members
are invited so that all are informed of the College’s resources,
policies and procedures, as recommended by the committee.
Handbook and Manual
The committee report recommends splitting the Adjunct [Affiliate] Faculty Handbook
into a handbook of policy and a separate, procedural, resource manual
that could be posted on the College's Web site for accessibility.
Torres said that Academic Affairs will be participating in discussions
about the best approach regarding the Handbook and the development of a resource manual.
An affiliate faculty Web site
Finally, while not in the
committee’s final report, the College is planning to create an
affiliate faculty Web site for easy access to pertinent College
information. The Web site will include an online forum
so that they have a venue for airing their concerns and discussing
issues with each other.
