Part-time faculty in the University of Maine System are working under a newly ratified contract that includes a 3 percent raise in pay for 2019-20 and 2020-21. So in this busy season, the Part-time Faculty Association (PATFA) would like to update you about these changes and more.
First, the Board of Trustees and PATFA members ratified the 2019-21 contract this fall. But the System has not yet posted the contract’s full text, so this article contains a link to the new contract at the PATFA website. The 3 percent raise is retroactive to Sept. 1. It is figured on the per-credit-hour minima for your rank and experience.
Second, the System decided (oddly, we think) to include the 3 percent bump for September, October, November, and December – all in the November paycheck. That means our checks increased with November pay, then will default one time in December to what we were paid in September. The 3 percent will again show up in every check starting in January. Here is a link to the full text of the contract: https://www.maine.edu/human-resources/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2020/03/PATFA-Contract-2019-2021-FINAL-3.18.2020-signed.pdf
Other news:
Tuition waiver: Unchanged from previous contracts is language that allows each adjunct to accrue a one-course tuition waiver after completing a Fall or Spring semester course. That waiver must be used no later than 12 months after being earned.
But the new contract raises the tuition waiver to 50 percent for the spouse or dependent children of part-time faculty if they are attending any of the University of Maine System universities full time. (The dependents’ waiver does not apply to summer or non-semester course offerings.)
Health insurance: Premiums for all UMS employees who participate are going up. Part-time faculty members are eligible for group health coverage if they teach two or more courses in a semester and have six service units.
Evaluations: Evaluations are still supposed to be conducted every fourth semester. But the contract language now says, “The University will notify the unit member [adjunct] about evaluation criteria and procedures at the time the unit member is notified of appointment as well as at the beginning of the semester in which the evaluation will occur. Academic departments and divisions shall also post criteria and procedures on existing academic unit webpages.” Note the word “shall.” It’s not an option but a requirement.
Independent studies: The contract has new language designed to ensure that adjunct faculty get paid for independent studies. It says, “Unit members who engage in properly pre-approved individualized instruction and/or independent study and/or directed study (hereinafter referred to as “independent study”) shall be paid at least five percent (5%) of the appropriate credit hour rate per student for such work, based on the credits for the course. If the Administration and Faculty members agree to pay more for such work, the Union and University Human Resources Department shall be notified and approve of the terms of such agreements.”
Service units: You earn one “service unit” when you complete work in either a Fall or Spring semester (but not for summer teaching). It’s good to check your list. The System posts it just once a year (in May) but sometimes corrects or updates the list, here. Remember that the list has three sections, listing people with zero to 5 service units, 6-12 service units, and 13 or more service units.
Calendar dates to remember:
Now: Make sure your Availability Form and curriculum vitae are up to date and filed with your departmental coordinator or chair. Find an Availability Form here at the PATFA website.
Soon: Part-time faculty “shall receive information regarding their proposed teaching assignment for the next semester” at least 60 days prior to the start of semester “when possible.” (Spring semester starts Jan. 21, 2020.) The “official” assignment (usually from your provost’s office) is supposed to arrive at least 30 days before the start.
Dec. 21: When a course is canceled “within one (1) month prior to the first class meeting,” the part-time faculty member shall receive a cancellation fee that’s 5 percent of the amount the course would have paid. “In the event the retracted official assignment was a course determined by the appropriate administrator to have required significant academic preparation or to be a course not previously taught by the unit member,” the cancellation payment is 10 percent.
The new contract also changes language regarding course load. “Without specific written authorization from the administrators of the employing units, no unit member shall accept the assignment of courses in a semester that would be considered a full-time load, irrespective of the number of campuses or departments or divisions offering assignments.”
Soon: “Unit members shall submit to the department chair or department designee two (2) copies of written course syllabi for each course taught at least one day prior to the first scheduled day of classes.”
Dec. 31: Human Resources has rolled out six video modules that part-time faculty are to complete by Dec. 31. The six topics are: Title IX, sexual harassment, conflict of interest, privacy (FERPA), basic safety, and information security. Find them here.
Feb. 1, 2020: Part-time faculty members who apply for change in academic rank, from Lecturer status to Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor, should apply by Feb. 1 for the change to take effect in the fall semester.
Also, many part-time faculty members could increase their per-credit-hour pay by simply changing rank from Lecturer I to Lecturer II or from Lecturer II to Lecturer III. Lecturer I covers zero to 10 semesters of previous college teaching; Lecturer II covers 11-19 semesters; and Lecturer III covers 20 or more semesters. And check out the wage tables to see how credit-hour pay is also supposed to increase even if your rank does not change. Lecturer pay rises after completion of five, 12, and 19 semesters. Yet it would increase more if you changed Lecturer rank when eligible.
PATFA argues that simple changes within the Lecturer ranks require only notification of your supervisor and time for the change to take effect in the next semester. Applying for a shift to a professorial rank is a little different. It requires application to your department and supporting documentation.
Finally, PATFA has a Facebook presence and is about to add Twitter and Instagram. Our website is: patfa.me.aft.org. PATFA has an office on the Bangor campus of UMA. The PATFA phone is 207-262-7971. Email is patfa@maine.edu.
Your Executive Council (board): President Michele Cheung, USM; Vice President Jim Seymour, UMA; Treasurer Pam Mitchel, UMF; Secretary Tom McCord, UMA.