by the AdjunctNation.com’s Part-Time Thoughts Blogger

In Portland, Oregon, the Portland State University Faculty Association is 30 years old. I came across an article about the recent salary negotiations conducted by the union on behalf of the school’s part-time faculty. Interestingly, the union only represents part-time faculty who teach .50 FTE or less. (Those with appointments above .50 FTE are represented by the AAUP.) So, from the article about the somewhat fraught negotiations, which ended with union officials accepting five percent pay increases over the next two years, I jumped to the PSUFA web site. On the front page is a simply brilliant time-line that shows what the union has gained for its membership over the past 30 years of representation.

When the union was organized in 1978, per credit hour salaries stood at $210. Somewhat confusingly, this is translated into a “salary” of $9,450 for part-time faculty. According to the union’s contract, the “salary” translates into 45 credit hours per academic year. Thus, a part-time faculty member would have to teach 45 credit hours in a single year to earn the full salary. This is, of course, a ridiculously high number of hours.

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