Declares that it is the purpose of this act to address growing concerns about the academic staffing crisis in higher education. Staffing issues, including the economic exploitation of adjunct faculty along with the shrinking ranks of full-time tenured faculty, limit the ability of the state system of higher education to provide high quality education, improve retention rates, conduct research, and provide support for economic development.

Declares it is further the goal of this act to have salaries in institutions of higher education that will attract and retain the best faculty possible to educate the citizens of Washington state. To achieve this goal, salaries for full-time faculty should be increased above a regular cost-of-living increase until by 2013 salaries are in the top twenty-five percent for faculty of comparable rank in global challenge states. In addition, to achieve this goal, each institution of higher education should determine a salary standard for adjunct faculty members employed in each academic, technical, basic studies, or other department that, subject to collective bargaining with the exclusive representatives of faculty, constitutes a pro rata salary compared to the salaries of full-time tenured faculty members of comparable qualifications doing comparable work.

Requires that each biennium, the governing boards of each institution of higher education shall submit in their biennial budget request an amount of funds sufficient to cover the projected costs of implementing this act.

Requires that, beginning in September 2008, subject to appropriation, each institution of higher education shall increase faculty salaries by a sufficient amount to raise the salaries to comparative global challenge states' rates and to close the pro rata gap between adjunct faculty salary and full-time faculty in each department, if a gap exists, so that by September 2013, the legislature's goal is met.