BILL REQ. #:  H-0536.2 

Read first time 01/19/09.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to employment opportunities at institutions of higher education; adding new sections to chapter 28B.52 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature to provide faculty and college excellence for Washington citizens by increasing the number of full-time, tenured academic employee positions at community and technical colleges and by enabling academic employees who hold part-time positions to have greater assurance of continuing employment. Promoting faculty and college excellence will result in better educational opportunities for our students, our communities, and our economy.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28B.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) It is the goal of the legislature that over the next several years, community and technical colleges increase the numbers of full-time tenured positions on their campuses. This goal is best accomplished by allowing the colleges to convert assignments currently held by nontenured academic employees to assignments held by full-time, tenured or tenure-track academic employees. This will require careful, strategic planning between the colleges, the state board for community and technical colleges, and the legislature. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to develop a planning process through which the colleges and board suggest a long-term strategic plan and timeline for faculty conversions.
     (2) By October 1, 2009, each community and technical college, in close collaboration with the exclusive bargaining representative for faculty, shall create a conversion plan to increase the number of full-time tenured faculty positions. The goal of the plan shall be to have seventy-five percent of the state-funded faculty working in full-time tenured positions by 2015.
     (3)(a) In its plan, the college shall state how it intends to meet its goal by, but not limited to, creating opportunities for adjunct faculty to attain full-time positions or converting classes or assignments left vacant by attrition. The plan should not include discharging currently employed part-time or nontenure-track faculty who have taught in the college for three or more years.
     (b) The plan shall be submitted each year to the state board for community and technical colleges as a request for a share of the funding for new positions in relation to the board's annual budget request to the legislature.
     (c) If the new positions authorized in section 1 of this act are not enough so that each college can meet its goals, each biennium thereafter, the governing boards of each community and technical college shall submit in their biennial budget requests an amount of funds sufficient to cover the projected costs of implementing this section.
     (d) The state board for community and technical colleges shall report to the higher education committees of the legislature by December 1, 2009, and every two years thereafter until 2015, regarding the colleges' progress in increasing the percentage of full-time, tenure or tenure-track academic employees.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28B.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Each community and technical college shall establish a process, subject to collective bargaining, under which part-time and full-time nontenured faculty members, after successful completion of an evaluation period, receive timely notice of and priority consideration, consistent with other institutional and state policies, for academic employment assignments for which they are qualified in their discipline in coming academic terms.
     (2) Each community and technical college shall create, subject to collective bargaining, a process for ensuring that qualified internal applicants receive priority consideration for attaining a tenure-track position when one becomes available such as, but not limited to prior notification of job openings before they are posted outside of the institution or a job interview for positions where minimum requirements have been met.
     (3) The processes in this section shall be consistent with institutional and state affirmative action and other personnel policies.