The Part-time Faculty Association of Maine (PATFA), the union that represents our 1,900 part-time faculty members, is happy to announce that we have reached tentative agreement on a new contract for 2017-19 with the University of Maine System.
PATFA members will soon receive ratification ballots in the mail, while the System Board of Trustees must ratify the agreement as well.
Michele Cheung, PATFA president, said the agreement includes a 2 percent pay increase in 2017-18 and a 2 percent pay increase in 2018-19.
Adding to the current Academic Year Appointment (AYA) option for long-serving adjuncts, the new agreement will inaugurate a four-year pilot program for a two-year academic year appointment (2YA). The availability of the 2YA is subject to the same conditions as the AYA, and conversely, if you qualify for the AYA, you qualify for the 2YA. Part of the idea behind the expansion is to tie faculty development to the AYA and 2YA. Advantages of these options include earlier notice of your course load and the sections you will teach, as well as the choice of distributing your pay across 12 months for a steadier income.
The System and PATFA also agreed to set up a committee that will make recommendations on ways the System’s seven universities can set unified guidelines for paying part-time faculty members for the many forms of university work they do outside the classroom such as advising, studio instruction, labs, independent studies, supervision of student teachers, and other responsibilities. The committee has a firm deadline for producing recommendations.
Additional matters settled include a stipulation that part-time faculty members may serve as faculty liaisons with high schools participating in the System’s burgeoning early-college programs, a clarification of the mileage reimbursement rules, and a rise in the percentage of tuition waived for adjuncts and family members taking University of Maine System courses from 25% to 35%. There were no changes to the option for qualifying part-time faculty members’ participation in the UMS health care insurance plan.
PATFA, a Local of the American Federation of Teachers, has been the bargaining agent for part-time faculty in the University of Maine System for nearly 30 years. Its contract governs such issues as assignment of courses, seniority, grievances, and pay.
You can expect the new contract, once ratified, to be posted on the Human Resources page of the university website sometime in January 2018.
Cheung advised all adjuncts to consider the new agreement “for changes that may better your work life at the university. This year, that would be the articles on pay and the new Academic Year Appointments. And I also encourage AYA’s to consider and ask for the new 2YA.”
PATFA is Local 4593 of the American Federation of Teachers.