U-Kansas Regents Pan Plan for Benefit to Adjunct Professors

A Lawrence, Kansas legislator has a proposal to provide health insurance benefits to adjunct professors who teach a full academic load at state universities.

Representative Tom Sloan, a Republican and chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said the panel was “committed to providing appropriate benefits to all those who are employed by state-supported institutions, programs, departments.”

He said he had talked with instructors who taught several courses but weren’t eligible for health benefits because they worked for more than one institution.

Sloan’s proposal is being considered by an interim legislative committee, but received a shaky reception earlier this week from the Kansas Board of Regents.

Only state employees who work half-time or greater at a permanent position are eligible for state health benefits.

A regents staff member said it would be difficult to provide health insurance for adjunct professors. At some schools, said Mary Prewitt, general counsel for the regents, adjunct professors are unpaid volunteers, while at others they are paid. Various other titles, such as instructor or lecturer, are used to describe teachers who may teach at more than one institution.

It also would be challenging to track eligible individuals because there is no integrated database of employees across the state institutions, Prewitt said. With about 30 health insurance plans offered by the various schools, it would be difficult to administer the benefits package to the adjunct professors, she said.

“While the intent of the legislation may be laudable, the proposal presents significant challenges,” Prewitt said.

Sloan said some lawmakers were concerned some schools depended too much on adjunct faculty to avoid having to provide health insurance.

And, he noted, several adjunct faculty members declined to testify about the issue because they feared their teaching load would be reduced if they went public with their concerns. Prewitt said she didn’t think any school would do such a thing.