On the occasion of a 3% raise for faculty and staff
Dr. McCall:
First of all, I’d like to thank you and the Board of Regents for the recent approval of a 3 % salary increase for FT regular faculty and staff “’who earn the Fully Met Job Requirements (M)’ rating in the 2010-11 KCTCS perforance evaluation system (or at least the “Achieves (A)” rating in the 2010-11 evaluation process piloted in 2010-11.” The recognition of hard work and sacrifice is deeply appreciated.
My appreciation, however, is tempered by my disappointment that there was no similar financial reward for the adjunct instructors who are responsible for providing at least 60%, if not more, of Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) course offerings.
As an English Coordinator at Bluegrass Community Technical College (BCTC), I sat in on many of the writing courses offered by adjuncts and reviewed the course evaluations submitted by their students. Their tireless support of BCTC’s mission and their dedication to their students is remarkable and inspiring. Despite this, they have not received any financial recognition of their work in the form of a raise or bonus in almost 10 years. An e-mail I received from a veteran adjunct expresses this disappointment much more eloquently than I can:
“I have been employed as an adjunct instructor . . . for the last 12 years. After the first few years, I almost always taught 4 or 5 classes a semester, earning excellent evaluations. I’ve also taught every summer for those 12 years, including this one. Surely there is some way you can recognize my hard work and dedication, as well as the work of similarly-situated adjuncts, many of whom have been teaching for as long or longer than I have (we used to get a pen and a tote bag at Christmas, but now we don’t even get that!).
“My students–and there have been hundreds of them over the years–recognize me as a valuable part of their education. I am asking that you do the same. I am aware that times are hard; in fact, since I haven’t had a raise for 9 years, I’m more aware than most (I taught 10 classes for you in 2010 for a gross pay of $19,575.) This, to you, may just be “good business”, but please know that we are people, not machines, and recognize us in some way for our efforts. If nothing else, maybe you could delete us from the list of future announcements about something we will not get. Again. (There’s really no point in rubbing salt into the wound.)”
I respectfully urge you and the Board of Regents to validate the work of adjuncts by correcting this demoralizing oversight and providing a raise or a bonus for adjunct faculty. I would be willing to serve on an action committee to address this problem.
Adjunct faculty deserve to be recognized and rewarded. The mission of the college cannot be sustained without them.
Thank you for your time.
Gerry Adair
BCTC Associate Professor, Humanities
Lora Botner
I am shocked to find out that the adjunct instructors are paid so little. Most of the instructors I have had are adjuncts, and without exception they have been hard working and very dedicated to their students. I certainly hope this helps KCTCS to recognize that they need these instructors and that they deserve to be fairly compensated.