Here are some tips for all part-time faculty around the University of Maine System as we navigate the wrap-up of spring semester 2024 and prepare for summer and fall work.
First, the 2023-26 PATFA contract is now posted at the UMS website.
There are some changes in the contract that you should know about.
With course registration under way, check MaineStreet to make sure your assigned courses are listed and have your name attached as instructor. A course section assigned to you may no longer be hidden from MaineStreet registration until other course sections are filled – unless you and the “appropriate administrator” agree. For years PATFA heard complaints that some assigned courses were invisible to students during registration because administrators wanted other sections to fill first. Now you must agree to that arrangement.
New to the 2023-26 contract is language that part-time faculty “who complete University-mandated annual compliance training shall be paid $150.” Payments will be processed twice a year. So if you complete the training soon, you should receive the stipend in your May paycheck.
In a contract-related matters, PATFA on March 13 filed a formal grievance against the University of Maine at Presque Isle over the way it administers its competency-based education program (which UMPI brands as YourPace). In short, PATFA is not challenging the pedagogy of YourPace, but is insisting that UMPI follow the terms of the 2023-26 PATFA contract.
PATFA unit members teaching in YourPace are not being paid monthly and sometimes do not receive their contracts until after the course is completed. UMPI holds YourPace courses with zero enrollment open for entire eight-week sessions, but does not pay PATFA unit members cancellation or stand-ready fees. UMPI has not been paying unit members for student withdrawals from the eight-week sessions – even though the instructor has graded work or conducted email or Zoom correspondence with the student. And UMPI-UMS has not allowed YourPace teaching to count toward the threshold for group health insurance. UMPI on March 20 offered to begin discussions on this grievance.
There are other changes afoot, based on the contract. PATFA and UMS are to develop a web-visible vehicle for information about professional development. PATFA and UMS agreed to a task force dealing with options for long-serving part-time faculty. And PATFA and UMS agreed to numerous changes in the contract language governing evaluations.
PATFA is the Part-time Faculty Association of Maine, Local 4593 of the American Federation of Teachers. Email is patfa@maine.edu. Our phone number is 207-262-7971 (we check it daily on weekdays).
All part-time faculty members are invited to PATFA’s Annual Meeting at 10 a.m. EDT Saturday, May 11, via Zoom. Email patfa@maine.edu for an invitation.
Tom McCord (UMA), president. Michele Cheung (USM), vice president. Pam Mitchel (UMF), treasurer. Araminta Matthews (UMPI), secretary.