Title: An act relating to part-time faculty of community and technical colleges.

Brief Description: Providing for a review and update of the best practices audit of compensation and employment for part-time faculty in technical and community colleges.

Sponsors: Senators Kohl-Welles, Schmidt, Jacobsen, Keiser, Rockefeller, Franklin, Shin, Spanel, McAuliffe and Kline.

Brief History:

Higher Education: 3/17/05, 3/31/05 [DP].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Kenney, Chair; Sells, Vice Chair; Fromhold, Hasegawa, Ormsby, Priest, Roberts and Sommers.

Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 5 members: Representatives Cox, Ranking Minority Member; Rodne, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Buri, Dunn and Jarrett.

Staff: Barbara McLain (786-7383).

Background:

In 1996, the Legislature directed the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) to convene a task force to conduct a best practices audit of compensation and employment conditions for part-time faculty. The task force was expected to include part-time and full-time faculty, and members of college governing boards and the SBCTC.

Later that year, the Best Practices Task Force made a series of recommendations on such issues as salary disparities, health and retirement benefits, part-time versus full-time staffing ratios, workload definitions, and working conditions. The report was required to include best practices principles for colleges to follow in their employment of part-time faculty. The SBCTC was expected to encourage, and to the extent possible require, local governing boards to adopt the principles. The SBCTC was also required to use the principles in its development of the 1997-99 biennial budget request.

Summary of Bill:

The SBCTC must convene a review and update of the 1996 best practices audit of compensation and employment conditions for part-time faculty. College administrators are added to the list of task force members. The task force must report its findings to the SBCTC by December 1, 2005. The SBCTC must use the best practices principles identified in the audit in the development of each biennial operating budget request, and must also encourage, and to the extent possible, require local governing boards to revise the best practices principles.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: It is time for a review and update of the Best Practices Task Force. The original report was a landmark study that led to other subsequent publications and continues to be the benchmark for progress on part-time faculty issues. In the last nine years, the Legislature has been able to accomplish some of the original recommendations but others have not been actualized. There are still issues that need to be revisited and addressed. This is not just another study. There is a legitimate need to find out where progress has been made and not been made, as well as gather data and develop additional recommendations.

Testimony Against: The 1996 Best Practices Report was actually a repeat of an earlier study done in 1984. There is no need to reinvent the wheel yet again. Some of the original recommendations have been accomplished, but the main problem is salaries and this is already known. Why should additional taxpayer dollars be spent to conduct another study?

Persons Testifying: (In support) Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, prime sponsor; Sandra Schroeder and Rebecca Jaffee, American Federation of Teachers-Washington; Diane Clifford, Shoreline Community College faculty; and John Boesenberg, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

(Opposed) Dana Rush, Part-Time Faculty Association.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.