1243 BRH HE

HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1243

As Reported By House Committee On:

Higher Education

Title: An act relating to part‑time employees of community and technical colleges.

Brief Description: Requiring prorated compensation for part‑time community and technical college employees.

Sponsors: Representatives Kenney, Carlson, O'Brien, Van Luven, Conway, Lantz, Edmonds, Gombosky, Veloria, Stensen, Cooper, Doumit, Kagi, Ogden, Dickerson, Cody, Miloscia, Lovick, Kastama, Sullivan, Eickmeyer, Hatfield, Murray, Edwards, Wood, Quall, McIntire, Dunshee, Keiser, Rockefeller, Campbell, Wolfe, Hurst, Regala, Santos, Poulsen and Morris.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Higher Education: 2/10/99, 2/19/99 [DPS].

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

$Part-time community and technical college faculty will receive proportional pay.

$Proportional means part-time faculty will be paid at a rate based on the teaching portion of a full-time instructor's workload.

CTeaching portion includes classroom instruction, preparation, grading and assigned office hours.

CThe State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will calculate the teaching portion based on their 1984 study.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Carlson, Republican Co-Chair; Kenney, Democratic Co-Chair; Lantz, Democratic Vice Chair; Radcliff, Republican Vice Chair; Dunn; Edmonds; Esser and Gombosky.

Staff: Marilee Scarbrough (786-7196).

Background:

During the 1998 academic year, there were approximately 7,183 state supported part-time faculty. According to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges this represents 42 percent of the community and technical college instructional effort.

Community and technical colleges hire part-time faculty for several reasons. Part-time faculty who work full-time in business and industry bring a unique perspective to the classroom. Part-time faculty also allow colleges flexibility in meeting student's needs. Employment of part-time faculty allows community and technical colleges to offer more courses when and where they are needed. The major reason colleges rely on part-time faculty is to improve productivity and reduce costs.

Historically, community and technical colleges have paid part-time faculty at a lower rate than full-time faculty. The average system-wide part-time salary is approximately $17,000. The average system-wide full-time salary is approximately $40,000. In 1996, the Legislature directed the state board to develop a plan and make recommendations to the Legislature to address compensation and salary disparities for full- and part-time faculty. As a result of the study, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges recommended that half of the part-time faculty be paid at 76 percent of a full-time rate and that half be paid at 100 percent of a full-time salary. Funding was not provided for that proposal.

In their 1999-2001 operating budget request, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges proposed a six-year plan to equalize part-time faculty salaries. The plan will cost $16 million during the first biennium. The state board proposal will also lower the eligibility threshold for part-time faculty participation in the Teacher's Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA/CREF) retirement plan.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

The substitute bill requires part-time community and technical college faculty to receive proportional pay. Proportional means that part-time faculty will receive pay based on the teaching portion of a full-time instructor's workload. The teaching portion includes classroom instruction, preparation, grading, and assigned office hours. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will calculate the teaching portion based on a 1984 survey of workload for part-time and full-time faculty.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill: The substitute bill eliminates the pro rata salary provisions. Those provisions are replaced with the requirement that part-time faculty receive proportional pay.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: (on original bill) There is a great disparity between the salaries of full- time and part-time instructors. Part of the problem is that part-time instructors are not paid for their non-classroom work. The Legislature needs to address these problems. Part-time faculty play a major role in the education of our citizens, we need to pay them fairly. Historically, part-time faculty are paid at a lower rate. We need to address this issue. We talk about the quality of higher education, this issue is an issue of quality. We need to do something now.

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges met with labor leaders and trustees regarding the best approach for the agency to take. The board concluded that it would have a salary goal of paying part-time faculty equally for their classroom effort. Based on their study, classroom effort is equal to 76 percent of a full-time faculty workload. It would cost $16 million over three bienniums to achieve this goal. The board also concluded that the best approach on retirement is to lower the retirement eligibility threshold so that more part-time faculty can participate. The board would like to see a proposal adequately funded. The board hopes full-time faculty will continue to do extra duties without compensation, however that may not happen if part-time faculty are compensated for the same duties. The board is also cognizant of the non-state supported part-time faculty employed in community colleges.

The salaries of non-state supported part-time faculty must remain comparable to state supported part-time faculty. Part-time faculty are valued within the community and technical college system. Part-time faculty fill in for employees on sabbaticals, for employees who retire and for full-time faculty release time. The system needs part-time employees for the flexibility. Low salaries for part-time employees results in low morale and lots of turn over. Part-time faculty are important and we support them in pay and benefits. We have studied the issue of part-time faculty long enough, now is the time to do something. We have wrestled with this issue for five years. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges passed a resolution supporting pro rata pay, as long as it is fully funded by the Legislature. From the state board perspective, we want part-time teachers up to pro rata pay. We believe in equal work for equal pay. The Washington Federation of Teachers has over 4,000 members. An overwhelming majority voted for pro rata pay as our top priority. We support HB 1243, 100 percent. We want to equalize salaries for part-time faculty. Seventy-six percent originally meant 76 percent of the average system-wide salary. It did not mean 76 percent of starting salary. If the Legislature continues to postpone solving the problem, there will be twice as many part-time faculty lobbying for the issue.

I am a part-time faculty member at Shoreline and I earn $15,000 per year which is one-third of a full-time faculty member's salary. When I first began teaching I was one of three in the department, now I am the only one in the department. I do everything including advising, but I do not get paid for it. I cannot continue to subsidize the state's community and technical college system. The community and technical college system is in a crisis. Do something, do something now. We are academic professionals, pay us like we are. Under paying part-time faculty creates an incentive to hire part-time faculty. It puts the faculty out of balance. This small problem left unattended will only result in a bigger problem. We need legislative action to support your words. Instead of hiring four full-time faculty, the colleges hire 10 part-time faculty. Up to 11 part-time employees on our campus share one office. We get paid 40 percent of a system wide full-time faculty salary, but we give 100 percent effort. I am a part-time faculty member but I advise students and I serve on committees. There is a human face to the part-time faculty. Our futures have been mutilated. The 76 percent used by the state board does not include office hours.

Testimony Against: None.

Testified: Rep. Phyllis Kenney, prime sponsor; John Bosenberg, State Board of Community & Technical Colleges (some concerns); Dr. Lydia Ledesma-Reese, Skagit Valley College; James Sherrill, Centralia College; Alan Link, Board Member, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and Washington State Labor Council; Susan Levy, Washington Federation of Teachers; Susan Stoltzfus, Washington Federation of Teachers, Jeff Johnson, Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Terry Fitzpatrick, WEA; Terry Byington, American Electronics Association; Ginnie DeForest, American Association of University Women; Corinne Baker, Washington Federation of Teachers and Seattle Community College Federation of Teachers; Tonia Clark, North Seattle Community College; Juli Zarate, North Seattle Community College; John Simpson, Pierce College Federation of Teachers; and Dana Rush, Part-time Faculty Association.