2. Unified Part-time Faculty Salary Schedule
The Current Situation
There are currently multiple part-time faculty salary schedules for different assignments, based on inequitable history and outdated reasoning. For many years and in many contracts, a full-time faculty member's instruction and office hours commitment (for an assignment solely of load factor 1.0 classes), has been defined to account for 85% of their salary. Other college and departmental work accounts for the other 15% of their salary. Only part-time faculty that are performing "load factor" 1.0 assignments are on a salary schedule directly tied to the full-time faculty salary schedule, where the pay for instruction and office hours is equal, with eight possible group placements based on credentials and 22 possible step placements based on experience at SMC. Part-time faculty members with assignments at less than load factor 1.0 could currently be placed on salary schedules that only have four possible group placements and six possible step placements for experience, or - most egregiously - on a salary schedule that has only one pay rate, independent of the instructor's credentials and experience and SMC.
Additionally, experience in one kind of assignment at SMC may not result in step advancement on another salary schedule.
Finally, for initial placement on the SMC salary schedules, a part-time faculty member's prior relevant experience elsewhere is never considered. All initial placements are on Step 1.
The Proposed Agreement
Starting Fall 2020, the parties have agreed to move all part-time faculty to a single salary schedule that establishes full pay parity for all assignments, based on 85% of a full-time faculty member's salary. Part-time faculty with assignments at less than load factor 1.0 will be moved to a cell on the new salary schedule, appropriate to their current qualifications, that ensures they are paid at a rate no less than their current rate.
All assignments will contribute to step advancement, which occurs at the same rate as full-time faculty: one step for every 30 LHE (Lecture Hour Equivalent) completed.
All part-time faculty, current and future, will be able to use prior relevant experience to have an initial placement made up to Step 4 on the salary schedule. (During Fall 2020, current part-time employees on steps less than Step 4 can submit evidence of prior relevant experience to Human Resources in order to be moved to a higher step starting effective Spring 2021.