Pay For Part-Time College Faculty Lags, Study Says Colleges Rely On Adjuncts, But Pay Them Half As Much As Full Timers

Washington’s two-year colleges employ part-time instructors in 42 percent of all classes, a new report says.

And those part-timers are paid half as much as full-time faculty.

Health care and retirement benefits also are rarely available to part-time teachers, according to a study that will be presented today in Spokane by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

The report says the state’s 32 community colleges and technical schools increasingly are hiring part-time instructors to compensate for less state money and to free up full-time teachers to develop new programs and perform other duties.

Part-timers, who teach on a quarter-by-quarter basis, also make it easier for the colleges to respond quickly to economic changes and shifts in student demand.

“I have no problem hiring part-timers and we need them, but I have a big problem with their pay and benefits,” said Rep. Jim Dunn, R-Vancouver, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Community and Technical College Faculty Issues.

Dunn conducted a subcommittee workshop Wednesday at the Community Colleges of Spokane. He said he will push for changes in the next legislative session to provide better benefits, wages and more opportunities for part-time teachers to be hired full time.

The schools employ a total of 5,300 part-time teachers. The Community Colleges of Spokane, which offers classes and other programs at 165 off-campus locations, has about 500 part-time instructors.

The report, “Part-time Faculty in Washington Community and Technical Colleges,” says that at their current pay level, adjunct instructors would receive an average of $16,300 to $18,300 a year if they were teaching a full-time load. Since they are limited to 80 percent of a full-time load, their real salaries are less.

However, the figures allow the board to accurately demonstrate the disparity between full-time and part-time salaries. The average full-time salary at Washington’s two-year schools is $40,500. That’s 121 percent to 148 percent higher than what part-timers are paid.

The report said national studies have shown little difference in quality between part-time and full-time faculty instruction. However, those studies were dated and some CCS faculty argued that it is difficult to gauge the value added by full-time teachers logging hours outside the classroom to advise students, to develop curriculum and to stay current with new trends.

“It might be the same (quality) during 50 minutes of class time, but to say it’s the same for the total educational environment is bogus,” said Ron Merchant, a Spokane Falls Community College instructor and president of the Association of Higher Education teacher’s union.

The report, which reviewed courses offered last fall, found that part-timers provided 79 percent of the instruction for English as a Second Language, the highest level in the state. Other heavy users of part-timers were adult basic skills, 73 percent; parent education, 63 percent; remedial English, 53 percent; and college-level composition, 52 percent.

Programs least likely to use adjuncts were mechanics and repair, 23 percent; culinary arts, protective services and health sciences, 32 percent; and natural sciences, 33 percent.

The state board meets today at 2:30 p.m. in the district office of CCS, 2000 N. Greene St. It reconvenes at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Spokane Community College Lair Student Center.

PAY DISPARITY The report says that part-time instructors would receive an average of $16,300 to $18,300 if they were teaching a full-time load. The average full-time salary at two-year schools is $40,500.