In the world of the PATFA contract, seniority counts, but summer teaching doesn’t. In this post, the Part-time Faculty Association wants to explain language that governs our service (seniority), rank, and even evidence of availability to teach.
So here are some tips and translations:
“Service unit” in the PATFA contract is simply one Fall or Spring semester. (The System has said recently that it counts a January mini-course as a Spring semester service unit.) Oddly, the contract frequently uses the word “campus” to mean one of the seven constituent universities in the System. Sometimes it uses “University” to mean the University of Maine System. And here is another definiton that is good to know because one of these "lists" applies to you: “List 3” means adjuncts with 13 or more Fall or Spring semesters’ seniority; “List 2” means those with 6 to 12 semesters; and “List 1” means 0 to 5 semesters. Administrators are supposed to use these Lists 3, 2, and 1 to be fair in offering course sections.
Second, summers: Lots of adjuncts have indicated curiosity about summer teaching and seniority. Here’s the quick back story. Three decades ago, a Maine Labor Relations Board “stipulation” – a legal acknowledgment – spelled out who was in and who was not in the part-time faculty bargaining unit. It excluded all School of Law faculty; all full-time regular employees of the System (that includes professional staff who sometimes teach a course), people who teach non-credit courses, high school teachers who supervise student teachers, graduate teaching assistants, and … “summer session faculty.”
Our guess on this 1980s “stipulation” about summer work is that it stems from an era when summer session seemed to mean a few lectures in a warm Old Main classroom and students taking a course they needed quickly or because they had flunked it the first time. That era is long gone: Higher education in America seems to offer courses 24-7. But the System and PATFA cannot simply change the next contract on this matter. Our guess is that summer credit will remain complicated as full-time faculty resist pressure to teach on a 12-month basis.
Here are more tips and translations from the language below:
On “rank”: We have already noted that Lecturer I, II, and III ranks are based on simple seniority. So as you move along in “service units” you should make sure your supervisor knows when you are nearing a point where you can change to a higher paying rank. The change can be done any time, but it does not take effect until the next semester.
Here’s where it gets tricky: You are supposed to get small pay raises even before your Lecturer rank advances. For example, if you start at the very bottom, Lecturer I, you hold that rank until you can show you have 10 semesters of previous college teaching. But your per-credit-hour pay advances after you complete five semesters. Likewise, if you start at “Instructor,” your per-credit-hour pay advances after five semesters, after 12 semesters, and after 19 semesters. The pay tables on p. 18 of the 2017-19 PATFA contract help you keep track of this.
On “service”: You keep your service units for six consecutive semesters after your last semester teaching. You can teach again after six idle semesters, but you start over in seniority. Retired full-time faculty from the seven universities who begin teaching part time must start at the end of the line in seniority. If you are hired into a non-part time System job, you keep your service units for four years.
You are supposed to keep your supervisor up to date by making sure that person has an accurate Availability Form. Language elsewhere in the contract says you are supposed to keep your CV (curriculum vitae) up to date, too. If you teach at more than one System university, you need to make sure your supervisors at each have this information.
One phrase in the contract language below is simple but needs translation: “In addition to the normal non-unit assignment of courses that may occur consistent with this article” refers to the fact that a full-time faculty member can bump a part-time faculty member.
Finally, note this language: “In the event a unit member submits a letter of resignation, that individual extinguishes all rights under the terms of this Agreement including earned service credits and severs the employment relationship.” We know of a part-time faculty member who wanted to cash in her retirement plan and was told to write a resignation letter. That wiped out her service units. Since you can retain service units for several semesters, “resigning” a part-time position might not suit you.
Here is Article 10 – Availability Form, full text from 2017-19 PATFA contract:
“A. The Availability Form, as shown in Appendix A, will be made available as an online form at each campus along with information explaining the use of this form and directions about the appropriate administrator(s) and office(s) to which the unit member or new part-time faculty member shall submit the form.
“B. It is the responsibility of the part-time faculty member to complete and maintain an accurate availability form for each department in which the part-time faculty member wishes to teach and to return the completed form to the appropriate administrator designated by the campus.
“C. The Availability Form(s) shall be retained by the appropriate administrator and in the personnel file.”
Here is Article 11 – Service, full text from 2017-19 PATFA contract:
“A. Unit members shall earn a service unit at a campus upon satisfactory completion of bargaining unit employment in each fall or spring semester, unless there is evidence of unsatisfactory performance.
“B. Unit members shall be placed on the appropriate campus service list based on the number of service units as follows: List 1 - Fewer than 6 service units. List 2 - 6 to 12 service units. List 3 - 13 or more service units. Unit members on a service list shall be considered equal for assignment purposes.
“C. The campuses shall establish their service lists no later than May 31 of each year. The campuses shall apply such service lists to the following calendar year.
“D.1. Available teaching assignments shall first be offered to unit members commencing with List 3, on the basis of qualifications, stated availability and preference. List 3 members so requesting shall be offered two (2) courses prior to proceeding to List 2 and then List 1. If third course opportunities are made available, they will be offered in accordance with the procedure in this section.
“2. The determination of qualifications shall be an academic judgment of the University administrator. However, unit members who have previously taught a specific course at least once within the last three (3) prior semesters shall be deemed to be qualified to teach that course unless contradicted by material in the unit member's personnel file.
“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.
“4. In addition to the normal non-unit assignment of courses that may occur consistent with this article, the University may offer assignments to individuals without following the procedures above. Such assignments shall be limited to individuals with exceptional expertise or abilities or in extra-ordinary circumstances. The University agrees to notify the Union at the time such assignments are made and to meet with the Union upon request with regard to any such assignments. All efforts will be made not to displace unit members as a result of such exceptional assignments. Individuals appointed pursuant to this section shall become unit members upon completion of qualifying service as specified in Article 1.
“E. 1. Unit members shall notify the appropriate administrator on the campus where they wish to teach in writing on a form developed for that purpose of their availability, in accordance with the provisions of Article 10.
“2. Assignments shall be made to a unit member only within that person's stated availability; however if no assignments are available at those times or can reasonably be made available, the University is not obligated to offer an assignment.
“F. Unit members who do not teach for a campus for six consecutive fall and spring semesters due to unavailability or lack of assignment shall be terminated from employment at that campus and shall no longer be considered unit members. If an individual is re-employed after being terminated, that person has the status of a new employee.
“G. The University shall notify the Union of the availability of service lists annually upon their preparation.
“H. Unit members who are on a service list at one campus and desire to be placed on the equivalent list at another campus shall teach two (2) semesters at the campus before such prior service units are recognized.
“I. Unit members who hold multiple campus service units shall not be penalized under this provision, but shall retain any documented confirmed prior service units at both campuses. Two (2) service units must have been earned at each campus in the past four (4) semesters to qualify under this provision.
“J. A unit member who receives an appointment to a University position outside the bargaining unit shall maintain service units for four (4) years following the date of the appointment. The unit member shall neither gain nor lose service units during the period of appointment outside the bargaining unit.
“K. In the event a unit member submits a letter of resignation, that individual extinguishes all rights under the terms of this Agreement including earned service credits and severs the employment relationship.”
Here is Article 16 – Academic Rank, full text from 2017-19 PATFA contract:
“A. At the time of an official appointment, a unit member shall be assigned a designated rank.
“B. Unit members shall be assigned the title of Lecturer (part-time) I, II, or III in accordance with Article 19. A unit member requesting a change in rank as Lecturer shall make a written application documenting the unit member's college teaching or equivalent experience.
“C. Rank for part-time faculty in the titles of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor may be recommended by the department or division in accordance with applicable departmental or divisional standards and the unit member's qualifications and experience.
“D. Unit members desiring a change in rank from Lecturer to Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor shall make written application to the department or division. All applications shall be accompanied by supporting documentation.
“E. Recommendations by the department or division or their appropriate designated committee, including the application and supporting documents, shall be forwarded to the next level of academic review at the campus in accordance with the governance structure.
“F. In the event all recommendations support the request for promotion it shall be the appropriate academic administrator’s decision whether or not to promote. The appropriate academic administrator shall also consider any appeals regarding the review of negative recommendations which are raised by a unit member. The decisions rendered by the appropriate academic administrator shall not be subject to the grievance procedure until the unit member receives formal notification of the decision by the appropriate academic administrator. The grievance, if any, shall be filed with the first level administrator or with the administrator who rendered the first negative recommendation.
“G. Completed applications submitted prior to September 15 shall be acted upon so that affirmative recommendations and decisions may be implemented in the following semester. February l shall be the application date in the spring semester with notice of decision to be issued no later than May 30 and shall be implemented in the following fall semester.
“H. A unit member hired in a part-time regular category who has previously attained status as Lecturer II or Lecturer III as a part-time temporary faculty member shall not have his/her rate of pay reduced for courses paid on a credit hour basis by the department.”
From your PATFA Executive Council: Michele Cheung, USM, president; Jim Seymour, UMA, vice president; Pam Mitchel, UMF, treasurer; and Tom McCord, UMA, secretary.
Website: http://patfa.me.aft.org/
PATFA office: 311 Belfast Hall, UMA Bangor, 85 Texas Ave., Bangor, ME 04401-4340.
PATFA office phone: (207) 262-7971 (checked weekdays).
Facebook: PATFA@aftmaine
Email: patfa@maine.edu