Agenda Item 6993

August 17, 1998

SUBJECT: Proposed Policy on Principles for the use of Adjunct Faculty

PROPOSED ACTION

That the Board discuss the proposed policy on Principles for the Use of Adjunct Faculty.

RELATED BOARD POLICY OR RESOLUTION

This topic was identified as a major Board policy-development priority at Board vote in November 1997.

RATIONALE

The "comprehensive" draft incorporates the current versions of all alternatives proposed so far by any Trustee. Sections with alternatives are labeled 2A, 2B, etc., with the shortest alternatives first. There are many shared or currently-uncontested provisions (shown in italics below) among the alternatives; contested provisions are in bold. This draft will be updated after each meeting to reflect the current thinking of the various authors and any new alternatives proposed by other Trustees. The target for final adoption of a policy is October 5.

BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The budgetary impact of the policy will depend on its final provisions. Cost estimates will be made of any financially-significant changes prior to final Board votes on the provisions of the policy.

RESOURCE PERSONNEL

Richard Fonte, President
Hunter Ellinger, Trustee
Carol Nasworthy, Trustee
John Worley, Trustee

ATTACHMENTS

Comprehensive Draft Policy
Questions Related to the Draft Policy

Comprehensive Draft Policy
Principles for the use of Adjunct Faculty

This "comprehensive" draft incorporates the current versions of all alternatives proposed so far by any Trustees. Sections with alternatives are labeled 2A, 2B, etc., with the shortest alternatives first. There are many shared or currently-uncontested provisions (shown in italics below) among the alternatives; contested provisions are in bold. Provisions which have been recently added are in bold italics. Remember that in many cases what is being contested is whether or not to put something in this Board policy, not the idea itself (a provision might be better handled as an administration or faculty rule, or as part of a different policy).

This draft will be updated after each meeting to reflect the current thinking of the various authors and any new alternatives proposed by other Trustees. The target for final adoption of a policy is October 5.

KEY TO AUTHORS OF ALTERNATIVE SECTIONS:

NASWORTHY: [2A], [5B]

WORLEY: [4B], [5C], [6B], [7A], [8B]

ELLINGER: [2B], [4A], [5A], [6A], [7B], [8A]

PRINCIPLES FOR THE USE OF ADJUNCT FACULTY --- [7/22/98 draft]

While faculty whom the College employs on a multi-year basis and who have additional mandatory non-instructional duties (referred to in this policy as full-time faculty) have the central role in organizing and delivering its instruction, adjunct faculty also provide essential services in most instructional areas. Among other benefits, use of adjunct faculty permits the College to schedule flexibly, to provide students direct access to working professionals in the fields they wish to enter, to refresh the instructional dialog with new perspectives, and to achieve for each area an appropriate balance of overall faculty effort between direct instruction and other needed faculty work.

However, care is required for the best use of adjunct faculty. The President shall maintain systems which ensure that use of adjunct faculty by the College meets community standards for responsible employment and that it does not result in diminished or uneven instructional effectiveness or violation of accreditation criteria.

Accordingly:

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[1] priority of instructional quality: The foremost consideration in hiring and scheduling all faculty shall be to ensure that instruction systematically meets high standards for effectiveness both in imparting needed skills and in successful student completion of programs.

[2A] evaluation: Evaluation shall be multi-faceted, based on published criteria, include appropriate observation, and be used to develop plans for improvement of performance where needed. Adjunct faculty shall be promptly and fully informed of the results of their evaluations.

[2B] evaluation: Adjunct-faculty evaluation, which shall be coordinated by teachers in the discipline, shall be multi-faceted, based on published criteria, include appropriate observation, and make use of long-term student-success results. Evaluation systems for adjunct faculty shall ensure that the course syllabus and the skill level covered by tests match the standards established for the course, and that adjunct faculty are not penalized for maintaining those standards. Adjunct faculty shall be promptly and fully informed of the results of their evaluations, which shall be used to develop plans for improvement of performance where needed.

[3] appropriate balance of adjunct and full-time faculty: The President shall develop and implement plans, subject to Board approval, to hire the number of full-time faculty required to ensure quality, provide needed academic support activities throughout each area, and meet accreditation standards, and make rules to limit use of adjunct faculty to a level which does not jeopardize these goals.

[4A] faculty work assignments: The College shall maintain a clear delineation of duties for adjunct and full-time faculty. Standard adjunct-faculty duties relate to areas of direct instruction and the associated section-specific student consultation. The College shall generally rely on full-time faculty for further required faculty work, such as subject-area advising, instructional planning, curriculum innovation, program and personnel evaluation, supervision of adjunct faculty, and shared-governance responsibilities. For appropriate liaison or specialized tasks, or when there are not enough full-time faculty in an area, adjunct faculty may be selected to work in these areas for appropriate professional compensation.

[4B] faculty work assignments: The College shall maintain a clear delineation of duties for adjunct and full-time faculty. Standard adjunct-faculty duties relate to areas of direct instruction and the associated section-specific student consultation. The College shall generally rely on full-time faculty for further required faculty work, such as subject-area advising, instructional planning, curriculum innovation, program and personnel evaluation, supervision of adjunct faculty, and shared-governance responsibilities. When there are not enough full-time faculty in an area to accomplish such work, their efforts shall be augmented in appropriate areas by adjunct faculty paid at compensation rates equal to the rates per hour for these tasks paid to full-time faculty with equivalent education and experience. Adjunct faculty are required to keep one regularly-scheduled office hour per course per week for individual consultation with students. In addition, adjunct faculty should accommodate reasonable student requests for consultation outside regularly-scheduled office hours, so long as these requests can be fit within the adjunct professor's schedule without undue burden to the adjunct professor.

[5A] workload priorities: The President shall establish rules by which adjunct faculty members are regularly validated by a faculty review process as eligible teachers for specific courses. These rules may also provide for different priority groups, which must be based primarily on assessments of teaching effectiveness. Available sections should, in general, be uniformly distributed among the eligible teachers within each priority group, up to their workload limits. However, teachers may be given lower loads if on probation or during their first two years at the College, and courses with only a few adjunct sections may be handled specially to ensure continuity. The administration may, with written justification, make exceptions to these workload guidelines as needed in the interests of instructional quality.

[5B] workload priorities: The President shall establish rules by which adjunct faculty members are initially and regularly validated by a faculty review process as well-qualified teachers for specific courses. These rules shall include provision for the regular addition of new adjunct faculty in each area.

To the extent feasible, at least one adjunct section of some course should be assigned to each applicant deemed well-qualified before multiple sections are assigned. In assigning additional sections, priority shall be given to adjunct faculty members who demonstrate consistent teaching excellence and either effective performance in instructional-support positions or significant other professional accomplishments relevant to their subject area.

The administration may, with written justification, make exceptions to these workload guidelines as needed in the interests of instructional quality, or to ensure continuity in courses with only a few adjunct sections.

[5C] workload priorities: Annual contracts covering up to half the adjunct sections in an instructional area shall be offered to adjunct faculty who have demonstrated by their length of service a long-term commitment to the College and who also demonstrate (1) consistent teaching excellence, (2) ability to teach a full range of courses in the area and willingness to serve where and when most needed, and (3) significant other professional accomplishments relevant to their subject area. Scheduling shall be done so as to ensure that such faculty are offered the course load their contract specifies. The remaining adjunct sections should be distributed among all other applicants deemed well-qualified for the particular courses; to the extent feasible, this should be done so as to offer similar workloads to all such adjuncts within an instructional area. However, teachers may be given lower loads if on probation or during their first two years at the College, and courses with only a few adjunct sections may be handled specially to ensure continuity. Although there shall be no set limit on the number of courses or lecture-equivalent hours adjunct faculty may teach, adjunct faculty shall not be scheduled for workloads (instruction plus other tasks) which are excessive in combination with their other commitments. Scheduling of adjunct faculty for courses shall be efficient, impartial, and understandable to all involved. The administration may, with written justification, make exceptions to these workload guidelines as needed in the interests of instructional quality.

[6A] professional compensation: Adjunct faculty shall be compensated at professional rates for all work expected of them. Appropriate allowances should be made for courses with unusually-high workloads, for difficult-to-staff courses, and for relevant experience at the College and elsewhere.

[6B] professional compensation: Adjunct faculty shall be paid on the same scale as full-time faculty, giving them due credit for relevant education and for relevant experience at the College and elsewhere. It is the goal of the College, consistent with fiscal restraints, to pay adjunct faculty no less than rates comparable to those paid full-time faculty with equivalent education and experience, taking due account of the difference in duties between adjunct and full-time faculty. The determination of comparable rates shall be based on the established assumptions at this College concerning minimum full-time faculty workloads, plus the assumption that a faculty member who teaches 15 class contact hours per week will, over a semester, average, at a minimum, 10 hours per week in preparation and grading. In addition, it is a goal of this College, consistent with fiscal restraints, that minimum and maximum salaries per course for adjunct faculty will, at the least, be in the middle range when compared to minimum and maximum per-course salaries paid by other institutions in the Austin area to faculty who are relevantly similar to this College's adjunct faculty, including lecturers at the University of Texas. Appropriate allowances should also be made for courses with unusually-high workloads and for difficult-to-staff courses. Prior to the achievement of the goals set forth above concerning adjunct pay, an additional allowance shall be made for adjuncts with annual contracts or with high overall workloads who meet standards set by the College for teaching excellence and professional development. Adjunct faculty under contract to teach 15 LEH or more a year, who are not otherwise covered under an employer-sponsored health insurance plan, shall be provided health insurance benefits by the College. The College shall, if possible, secure these benefits from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS). If that is not possible, the College shall provide the benefits itself on the same terms to the employee as the TRS would provide.

[7A] long-term relationship: The College shall develop and maintain professional relationships with its adjunct faculty by encouraging appropriate professional development, by scheduling early enough that adjunct-faculty names are generally available to students by the beginning of registration, and by accommodating individual adjunct-faculty preferences as to the location and time of work as much as is consistent with College and student needs. Professional development may be mandated for adjunct faculty and be an element in the adjunct-faculty compensation scales.

[7B] long-term relationship: While adjunct employment intrinsically lacks binding mutual long-term commitments, the College shall develop and maintain professional relationships with its adjunct faculty by encouraging appropriate professional development, by scheduling early enough that adjunct-faculty names are generally available to students by the beginning of registration, and by accommodating individual adjunct-faculty preferences as to the location and time of work as much as is consistent with College and student needs. Professional development may be mandated for adjunct faculty and be an element in the adjunct-faculty compensation scales.

[8A] new faculty: Special systems for effective orientation, mentoring, and supervision of new faculty shall be maintained. These shall include immediate course evaluations whenever a faculty member has not previously taught a particular course at the College. People working as adjunct faculty shall be frankly informed that adjunct teaching, even if fully successful, is unlikely to lead to full-time employment at this college, due to the small number of openings and large number of applicants from inside and outside the College.

[8B] new faculty: Special systems for effective orientation, mentoring, and supervision of new faculty shall be maintained. These shall include immediate course evaluations whenever a faculty member has not previously taught a particular course at the College. People working as adjunct faculty shall be frankly informed that adjunct teaching, even if fully successful, is unlikely to lead to full-time employment at this college. There shall be no discrimination, however, against adjuncts who apply for full-time jobs, and successful adjunct teaching should be viewed favorably -- though not necessarily decisively -- when a member of the adjunct faculty applies for a full-time position.

[9] access to instructors: The College shall provide operational support, including voice and electronic mail, sufficient to ensure good student access to adjunct faculty as well as good communication between adjunct faculty and their supervisors.

[10] integration into the College: Each adjunct faculty member shall be provided a contact person in the teaching faculty in his or her discipline to provide needed consultation and assistance. Adjunct faculty shall also be informed in writing of who has primary responsibility for their evaluation, to whom they should refer students who have unresolved complaints about their class, to whom they should direct requests and questions about their scheduling, and how they should handle the provision of a substitute if they are unable to meet a class session due to illness or other causes.

[11] community/industry connection: The College shall use the connections of adjunct faculty with their other employers and/or community activities to enrich and improve services to students.

QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE DRAFT POLICY ON ADJUNCT-FACULTY USE

(For use in the 8-17-98 work-session discussion)

SECTION 6 -----

[a] Should the whole adjunct compensation question be handled as part of a general compensation policy (i.e., delete this section from this policy)?

[b] Should the College adopt the principle of proportional adjunct pay?

--- If so, should the Board specify the components of the formula?

[c] Should the College adopt a middle-range-of-local-adjunct-pay principle?

[d] Should the College provide health-insurance benefits to high-workload adjuncts?

SECTION 8 -----

[a] Should hiring committees for full-time faculty positions be allowed to consider the performance of applicants as ACC adjuncts?

[b] Should preference be given to successful ACC adjuncts?