Rutgers Part-Time Lecturers Settle Contract Dispute

Rutgers University’s nearly 1,000 part-time lecturers have approved a new four-year contract with the university.

The Rutgers Council of the American Association of University Professors, which represents the lecturers, said Friday that 96 percent of the ballots that were mailed in favored the agreement.

“Many talented and hardworking teachers have been waiting a long time for a salary increase,” said Ratna Karmaker, head of the part-time lecturers chapter of the Rutgers AAUP.

More than half of the chapter’s members participated in the vote. The AAUP would not disclose exact numbers.

The agreement, which was reached one day before the Sept. 1 start of fall classes, raises the minimum compensation for a standard three-credit course from $2,550 to $3,000 for the 2004-05 school year. The minimum will increase to $3,300 for 2005-06 and $3,600 for 2006-07.

Lecturers receiving compensation above the minimum also will see increases each of the three years.

The contract covers the academic years of 2003-04 through 2006-07, but is not retroactive to last year.