As the new semester begins at the seven universities of the University of Maine System, the Part-time Faculty Association of Maine (PATFA) reminds adjuncts to be aware of our contract language – especially if your courses are taken away.
Your contract addresses what happens when last-minute changes occur.
We provide the relevant contract language below. You would be wise to review it. Of course, the System has rights – but so do you.
One thing is not so clear: If you are entitled to a cancellation fee, you should contact your university’s Human Resources people and your coordinator/department chair directly and clearly – by phone, yes, but by email or letter to leave a trail. Then you should be diligent in checking your pay stub at the next pay day (Jan. 31, etc.) to make sure you actually receive any cancellation or other fees owed – and double-check the dollar amounts. The contract language below shows that some adjuncts should receive 5 percent and others 10 percent, depending on the circumstances and timing.
We believe Article 12, Section H is increasingly significant in an era when adjuncts spend considerable time preparing Blackboard sites as well as a syllabus.
We also believe adjuncts should be persistent and firm in pointing out the Article 11 language that says adjuncts “shall not be arbitrarily or capriciously denied assignment” of courses.
Article 11 Service, Section D.3:
“Without providing any guarantee of an assignment of one or more courses by the University, unit members with established employment patterns or who have developed a course offering at the request of an academic administrator with the understanding the unit member would teach the course shall not be arbitrarily or capriciously denied assignment of one or more of those courses for which they are qualified, have indicated they are available for and have preference to teach.”
Article 12 Assignments, Sections D-H:
“D. Changes in official assignments may be made in the event of unusual or unforeseen circumstances or by mutual agreement of the unit member and the appropriate administrator.
“E. Courses may be retracted at any time by the appropriate administrator, or may not be offered to a unit member due to lack of work or enrollment or budgetary or programmatic considerations.
“F. Unit members shall receive a cancellation payment when an official assignment is retracted within one (1) month prior to the first class meeting. Such payment shall be five percent (5%) of the amount which was to be paid for the course.
“G. Unit members shall receive a cancellation payment when an official assignment is retracted after the first class meeting in the amount of five percent (5%) plus a proportional basis for any actual classes met.
“H. 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, cancellation payments specified above shall be ten (10%).”
Your PATFA Executive Board: Michele Cheung, President; James Seymour, Vice President; Pam Mitchel, Treasurer; Tom McCord, Secretary
The Part-time Faculty Association of Maine (PATFA) represents part-time faculty teaching within the seven universities of the University of Maine System. It is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers as Local No. 4593. - See more at: http://patfa.me.aft.org