BILL REQ. #:  H-4176.1 

Prefiled 01/07/08. Read first time 01/14/08.   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 addressing growing concerns about the academic staffing crisis in higher education and its effect on student achievement and retention. 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. Promoting faculty and college excellence will result in better service 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 at least seventy-five percent of the courses taught or academic assignments held in each department on each campus in a community and technical college district shall be taught or held by full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty by 2014, if the department has at least eight full-time equivalent academic workloads as described in RCW 28B.50.489.
     (2) By the beginning of fall quarter 2008, each community and technical college shall determine the number of full-time equivalent faculty appointments held by part-time, nontenured, tenure-track, and tenured faculty in each academic department and shall report its findings to the state board for community and technical colleges, its board of trustees, and the exclusive representatives of the faculty.
     (3)(a) Those community and technical colleges that do not meet the goal in subsection (1) of this section shall create a plan to meet the goal, subject to collective bargaining with the exclusive representatives of the faculty, by summer quarter 2009. In its plan, the college shall state how it intends to meet its goal by, but not limited to, creating new full-time tenure-track appointments, creating opportunities for adjunct faculty to attain full-time positions, and by converting classes or assignments left vacant by attrition, but not by discharging currently employed part-time or nontenure-track faculty. Special attention should be paid to increasing the number of full-time faculty in departments of mathematics, science, adult basic education, early childhood education, and English. The plan shall also include projected costs to reach the goal.
     (b) Each biennium, the governing boards of each community and technical college shall submit in its biennial budget request an amount of funds sufficient to cover the projected costs of implementing this section.
     (c) Those departments having at least eight full-time equivalent academic workloads as described in RCW 28B.50.489 that do not meet the seventy-five percent goal as described in subsection (1) of this section shall, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, increase the share of positions held by full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty to meet the legislature's goal by 2014 according to the plan developed by the college.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28B.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) It is the goal of the legislature that part-time and nontenured faculty in community and technical colleges receive consideration for continuing employment and for new tenure-track positions.
     (2) 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. The priority consideration shall include either rights of first refusal for eligible classes and assignments or a continuing contract with due process rights.
     (3) 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, a job interview for positions where minimum requirements have been met.
     (4) The processes in this section shall be consistent with
institutional and state affirmative action and other personnel policies and shall ensure that nontenured-track faculty:
     (a) Accumulate seniority;
     (b) Are notified of job openings before the job is posted outside of the institution of higher education; and
     (c) Have priority consideration for appointments.