SENATE BILL REPORT

2SHB 1168

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Sponsors: House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Gregerson, Haler, Pollet, Appleton, Stanford, Orwall, Sells, Tarleton, Chapman, Goodman, Fitzgibbon, Peterson, Lytton, Doglio, Frame, Farrell, Riccelli, Lovick, Pettigrew, Sawyer, Springer, Ortiz-Self, Bergquist, Ormsby, Fey, Hudgins, Santos and Macri).

Brief Summary of Bill

Requires the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges to create a plan to increase the percentage of full-time tenure track positions and provide progress reports to the Legislature.
States the Legislature's goal is that the community and technical colleges increase the numbers of full-time tenure track positions by adding 34 new full-time tenure track positions in the 2017-19 biennium and 50 new full-time tenure track positions in each of the next three biennia, subject to funds appropriated.

Background: According to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (State Board), in the fall of 2014, 54 percent of state supported instruction was completed by full-time faculty and 46 percent by part-time faculty. Also according to the State Board, on average, a part-time instructor teaching full time would earn 62 percent of the amount paid to full-time instructors.

Part of the State Board's 2017-19 budget request includes a request for funds to be used by colleges to transition part-time positions to full-time positions and/or to provide for salary increases. According to the State Board, converting a part-time position into a full-time position costs on average $26,100 per position.

Summary of Bill: By December 1, 2017, the State Board must create a plan, to be implemented in phases, to increase the percentage of full-time tenure track positions in community and technical colleges (CTCs). The Legislature's goal is that over the next several years, the CTCs increase their full-time faculty positions by adding 34 new full-time tenure track positions in fiscal year 2019 and 50 new full-time tenure track positions in each of the next three biennia, subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose. The first phase-in of the plan must begin by the 2018 winter quarter.

The plan must include converting part-time faculty positions to full-time positions, creating more opportunities for part-time faculty, and converting classes or assignments left vacant by attrition. The plan must address how to increase full-time tenure track positions at those institutions identified by the State Board as having below average percentages of full-time faculty relative to the program mix at the institution, while also recognizing that for certain programs there is a strong rationale for reliance on part-time and adjunct faculty.

The State Board must work collaboratively with each CTC, the collective bargaining representatives, and the Legislature. The CTCs that are required to implement the plan must provide an annual progress report to the State Board. The State Board must report to the higher education committees of the Legislature by December 1, 2019, and every two years, until December 1, 2025. The report must provide updated faculty conversion cost information and information about the progress made by the CTCs.