Adjuncts at Keane State College Look Forward to Negotiating First Contract

By James Niedzinski

Keene State Colleges Adjunct Association is preparing for a contract negotiation set to launch April 1, 2011.

The Adjunct Association hopes to make strides in many areas, including compensation, benefits, and terms of service.

"As it stands now, the adjunct members of the faculty need certain things; livable wages for one. We are not asking for insane demands," Michael McCarthy, head of the Adjunct Association at KSC, said.

According to McCarthy, adjunct faculty is limited to what they can do in terms of involvement and course loads.

"If you are a professor that does a good job, that truly loves teaching, why wouldn’t you want them to teach more? Keene State limits the amount of classes adjunct faculty is capable of taking. It just does not make sense," McCarthy said.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has conducted various studies on the working conditions and quality of teaching at KSC. The 2010 report of KSC states, "We also note that something less than 50 percent of ISP courses are taught by full-time faculty. Moreover, something less than 50 percent of all courses (substantially less than the average at peer schools) are taught by full-time faculty, and this proportion has been declining for several years. Even though part-time instructors may be no less dedicated to the college than full-time faculty, this nonetheless leads to questions, e.g., about student access to instructors."

The report also noted that KSC plans to increase the amount of full-time faculty to 67 percent by 2017.

NEASC has also conducted similar studies at schools of comparable size, such as Plymouth State University and The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. The studies show that Dartmouth has 85 percent of their faculty on the tenure track system, and the report on Plymouth State concluded that they have a reliance on adjunct faculty and overload pay.

"The number of adjunct faculty is a fair amount higher than what other institutions in the area are using," KSC Provost Emile Netzhammer said.

"The major con is that adjunct faculty are primarily teachers. The faculty work includes scholarships, a lot of service, advising students; and the adjunct faculty do a good part of that. But on a day to day basis that falls on the shoulders of the tenure track faculty. Responsibly falls disproportionably on the tenure track faculty," Netzhammer said.

He also stated that the adjunct faculty are only compensated on a per credit basis. Furthermore, all adjunct faculty members only have their pay spread out over seven months instead of 12, and they are unable to receive unemployment over the summer on the whole. There have been instances in the past where adjunct faculty members have been awarded unemployment or health benefits.

The contract for adjunct faculty members (that was signed in June of 2009 and is valid until June of 2011) states that the Adjunct Association cannot go on strike, and no member is guaranteed to be offered another semester over the summer or winter breaks.

Netzhammer also said that the number of adjuncts will be cut from one half to about two thirds, over time. Furthermore, a number of the adjunct faculty do not have their terminal degrees in their field.

James Couch, a full-time adjunct faculty member with his doctorate, stated that KSC does have a good deal of adjunct faculty, but the Adjunct Association does do a lot.
As it stands currently, the college does national searches when looking for new tenure track faculty members, instead of looking within KSC specifically. Although Netzhammer stated there is a significant member of tenure track faculty that were once adjunct.

"Concerns about being an adjunct could be addressed initially on a departmental level. If we have an adjunct with an issue, and the department stands behind them, that is a better way to get change," Couch said.

Couch also said that his main concern is health benefits, which adjunct faculty does not get.
Journalism professor Rodger Martin has been an adjunct faculty member at KSC since 1998. Unlike many other adjunct professors, professor Martin has taught in Massachusetts and does not require health care.

"I’m in a unique position where I don’t need the benefits. I’ve always been a strong believer in unions. Workers need to organize or they will be used," Martin said.
He also said that this is not his main livelihood, and prefers the eight month pay scale rather than the twelve month pay scale.

"I’m capable of budgeting my own money, and the school gets the interest of all the pay scale money. It’s a crime that workers are not guaranteed health care, it’s not the college’s fault, just a flaw in our health care system," Martin said.

Journalism professor Rose Kundanis is a member of the tenure track faculty union (EA union). She was on the bargaining team for one contract term. Kunandis said that the union gives them information on campus-wide information, how their salaries are decided, and her primary purpose within the union is to have access to that information.

"It is a real value to have adjunct faculty as well as full-time tenure track faculty. I feel that we have a strong education team within the journalism department," Kunandis said.

Sociology professor Peter Stevenson was once the president of the KSC EA, and is now the negotiation chair. Professor Stevenson said it would be inappropriate to discuss the union’s interests while negotiations are in action. In the past however, he said the main interest have been health and retirement benefits.

"We try to share what we can, although we have once conflicting interest. We want more tenure track faculty members and less full time adjuncts. We believe that full time tenure track professors are more qualified and more capable," Stevenson said.

"They are cheaper, and you can use them to satisfy filling a class, but they do not do as much as we do in terms of research and committee responsibilities. They do not do as much as we do," he said.

According to Stevenson, the EA holds meetings a couple times a year, and full time faculty members are required to attend at least two a semester. Stevenson said the number of members that show up is about 20 to 30 percent of the total staff.

Professor McCarthy confirmed that only about ten percent of adjunct faculty members have their doctorate.

"We advise, we teach, and I myself do a lot of committee work. We’re the best deal in town," McCarthy said.

"I have never had any problems being an adjunct at Keene State, but one never knows what tomorrow may bring," professor Martin said.