| Rhode Island Adjuncts Scale a High Bar with First Contract |
| Tuesday, 20 October 2009 | |
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Job security, seniority, academic freedom, scheduled pay raises—these are the high points of a contract ratified last week contract ratified last week by the Rhode Island College/AFT Adjunct Faculty Union in a vote of 75 to 1. It was a first contract for the unit of 300, which voted to affiliate with the AFT and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals in April 2007. The agreement, which is retroactive to September 1, 2009, covers three years, through August 31, 2012.
The most important thing to the RIC adjuncts was knowing from one semester to the next that they would have a job. "In the past," says Richard Walton, a 25-year veteran writing instructor at RIC, "they would dispose of us like Kleenex. If they wanted us one semester, they'd hire us. If they felt like hiring someone else the next semester, they'd hire someone else." Now, the contract requires department heads to take a different view. Adjunct faculty negotiated an evaluation procedure. "The adjuncts are all responsible, professional teachers, so we believe in evaluation." When they have completed a course satisfactorily, says the contract, "they have the expectation of being assigned available courses according to availability, qualifications and seniority."
More on the contract after the jump. The model for this setup, says Walton, who served on the negotiating team, was the English department, where adjuncts—who make up more than half of the 60-plus faculty—have been active in the life of the department for years. Department chairs "have been good unionists themselves," says Walton, and have been comfortable with adjunct involvement. Full-time faculty at RIC are represented by the AFT-affiliated RIC Chapter. The contract also has an academic freedom clause adapted from the AAUP's 1941 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Since it is a first contract, the agreement provides a strong grievance procedure that ends in final and binding neutral arbitration, and has leaves of absence for illness, bereavement, and jury duty. It also includes a pay increase of 3 percent for adjunct faculty, effective September 1, 2009, the same three percent increase full-time faculty received for this year. That increase has brought the rate of pay for a three credit course up from $3,342 to $3,441. With a contract under its belt, the union plans to reach out to members to become more active in their empowered union and decide whether the full-time and adjunct units will be better served merging into one union. "They already have an infrastructure, a history. We are building infrastructure from scratch," says Walton. Given the "fragmented" lives, RIC adjuncts lead, with teaching jobs at other institutions, merging with experienced unionists could bring considerable benefits to the new local. |
