PHP 1
The Preferred Hiring Pool (PHP) is the advancement system for adjuncts at USF. There are two steps: PHP 1 and PHP 2.
PHP is Covered in ARTICLE 12 of the CBA: Continuing Service For Adjunct Professors. Please see the contract posted in the CBA-Constitution section of this website for more information.
The criteria to apply for PHP has changed with the ratification of the new contract in April, 2019. Please read below for the new criteria. This page will be updated when the language of the new contract has been completed.
Posted at bottom:
• Rebecca Seeman's Suggestions for a successful application, including discussion of PLOs (Program Learning Outcome) and CLOs (Course Learning Outcomes)
• Sue Bae's notes from PHP workshop, Fall 2017; including comments from Administrators
•••
The 2019 application cycle for 2019 is now complete. 2020 applications will be due Oct 15, 2020, and will require criteria outlined in the 2019 CBA:
- PHP 1: Minimum of three years of service, minimum of 54 units
- PHP2: Minimum of ten years of service, minimum of 128 units
Article 12.1 ( PHP Eligibility) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) states:
Effective Fall 2020, all adjunct professors who upon evaluation are determined to
be effective teachers who demonstrate competence and successfully complete
their teaching assignment in accordance with Article 13, and who have completed
at least fifty-four (54) units and have a minimum of three (3) years of service, may
apply for the preferred hiring pool (PHP). Applicants must notify their
Department Chair in writing of their intent to apply for PHP. Application to the
PHP is submitted to the Dean each Fall semester on or before October 15th. The
effective date of PHP decision is the following Spring semester.
12.2 The application shall include the following:
12.2.1 A list of the course(s) and sections taught, and the semesters in which each was taught.
12.2.2 Current curriculum vitae.
12.2.3 A narrative of teaching philosophy that outlines the applicant’s principles on teaching generally and in terms of the mission and goals of USF specifically; it should also describe how they demonstrate teaching effectiveness through evaluations, teaching surveys, or other data.
12.2.4 A statement that outlines the applicant’s support for department/ programs learning outcomes and objectives.
12.2.5 A statement that outlines the applicant’s commitment to collegiality within their department, college and university.
12.2.6 Confirmation that applicant has notified their department chair of intent to apply for PHP.
12.2.7 Any additional materials the applicant believes demonstrate excellence in teaching, including but not limited to letters from faculty, administrators, and students.
12.2.8 The evaluation process shall include a review of a minimum of the three (3) and a maximum of the (5) most recent years of BLUE surveys.
12.2.8.1 The applicant shall be responsible for submitting all SUMMA evaluations and BLUE surveys
PHP Benefits:
A one-time 23% pay increase (approximately) in addition to the annual across-the-board increases we have negotiated.
Seniority rights in course assignment,
Access to the University's retirement plan (a 10% retirement benefit will be paid to your selected retirement account whenever you receive a paycheck)
see the retirement information on this page
Kaiser medical plan,
see the health care coverage information on this page. Note that Kaiser is now available to all adjuncts who meet the minimum requirements.
Tuition remission for self and family,
email tuitionremission@usfca.edu or contact the HR Benefits help line at x2442 for information;
40,000 life insurance coverage, including accidental death and dismembership (in effect as long as you're teaching at USF).
The salary increase and retirement plan should happen automatically.
PHP Application
Every fall, the union co-sponsors a PHP Workshop with the administration. The date is announced early in the fall semester and will be posted on our website under "Announcements." A dean will attend to answer your questions. A successful PHP applicant also will be present to pass out his/her application documents and discuss the process with you.
Recommended:
• See suggestions for PHP II application, as they can be applied to the PHP I application as well.
Go to the link below for:
• Notes on PHP application process
• Notes from the Nov 8, 2017 PHP Workshop: PHP Workshop Notes. It has very useful information for applicants.
••••
Rebecca Seeman's Suggestions for a successful application, including discussion of PLOs (Program Learning Outcome) and CLOs (Course Learning Outcomes)
PHP Application Suggestions
Please note that these are suggestions only, they are not requirements from the Deans Offices
In General
• Make sure you meet the requirements before applying. Several applications are rejected because they don’t meet the basic requirements. You must have taught three full years (fall and spring) and a minimum of 54 units in one school/department (not across departments). Independent studies do not count toward the unit total. Some REC (Reduced Enrollment Course) units will count. You can check with your Dean’s office if you are unsure if you meet the requirements.
• Quality over quantity.
• Make your package look professional, with appropriately addressed letters of applications and other materials.
• PHP is like a form of tenure for adjuncts. Treat it as such, and make your package look
like you would if you were applying for tenure.
• If you are denied, send a nice email saying something like, “Thank you for your
consideration of my application. I appreciate the time you took to evaluate my work at
USF and I look forward to continue teaching here.” Never question their decision. Don’t
be overly obsequious, but be courteous and polite. This will count well for you next time
you apply.
Cover letter, etc.
• Be professional in your statement. Keep it to 1-2 pages. Use proper headings, and
address it to the Dean of your school. This should be presented like a well-considered
application letter for your dream job.
• Remember that this is an award for teaching, not research. You should stress teaching,
but it’s good to refer to your professional skills and successes. Also, this is an
award for teaching at USF, not teaching in general. Stress what you’ve done at USF and
your commitment to the university and the mission of the university and your school/department.
• USF is a Jesuit university that assigns tremendous importance to Social Justice.
If you can, discuss the ways that you support social justice in your teaching.
You can also consider community building and diversity forms of social justice.
• Do provide a detailed CV (not a resume). This is a good place to show your research, work, and
teaching outside USF. Include publications if you have them, conference presentations,
etc.
• Recommendations are strongest when they are written by superiors and/or colleagues at USF who have observed you teach and can make specific comments about your teaching strengths.
Evaluations
• Only provide the past 3-5 years of evaluations – BLUEs (SUMMAs, USF's evaluation system until 2014, are now too old to be relevant)
• If you have a bad semester, year, or evaluation, try to explain what may have led to the dip in your evals, and what you did to improve it. The people evaluating the applications know that we are human and that things can go wrong. It’s generally not recommended to try to hide or ignore those things. On the other hand, don’t feel a need to overemphasize weaknesses or trouble spots – stress your strengths in your overall application.
Course materials
• Only provide 1 copy of each syllabus, but do provide syllabi for more than one class. If you assign interesting projects for your
students to complete, you should provide those too.
• It’s helpful to demonstrate that you’ve taught a wide variety of courses.
• It’s helpful if your course materials can demonstrate innovative teaching methods.
Show that you are thoughtful in preparing your classes, and you strive to make them
meaningful and invigorating for your students.
• IMPORTANT: Your syllabi should list your Program’s PLOs (Program Learning Outcomes) and include your own CLOs (Course Learning Outcomes) that map to one or more PLOs and demonstrate with actionable terms how students will learn and be evaluated on the CLOs/PLOs. Administration has indicated that this is an important criteria in a successful application. Here is an example from Rebecca Seeman’s MUS100 syllabus:
Course Learning Outcomes
CLO-1. Develop literacy in Western notation of the Common Practice Era.
CLO-2. Analyze compositions by Common Practice Era composers for melodic and harmonic content and form.
CLO-3. Perform melodies and rhythms from written Western music notation.
MUS100 fulfills the following Performing Arts and Social Justice Department and USF Music Minor Learning Outcomes:
MP LO #1. Analyze musical trends, works, and methodologies within their socio-historical context. Fullfilled by CLO-2.
PASJ LO # 2. Apply technique and conceptual skills to creative and scholarly practices:
MP LO #2. Apply musical skills in performing, teaching, composing, writing, or presenting. Fulfilled by CLO-1 and CLO-3.
Teaching Philosophy
• Again, at USF it’s helpful to stress commitment to Social Justice.
• Use specific examples for how you meet your teaching philosophy goals. You might approach this section similarly to how you approach the course objectives in your syllabi – state an area of your teaching philosophy, and then list the specific ways you address this in your course(s).
Additional Materials, Recommendations
• It’s very helpful to have a strong recommendation from your department chair and/or
program head and/or members of the administration, but certainly not necessary. You may also include recommendations from fellow faculty, preferably full-time, tenured or tenure track. USF recommendations will often be stronger than recommendations from other schools or institutions, but that doesn’t mean that someone from another institution is unable to address why you are an asset to USF.
• Request recommendations from people that have observed you teach, can refer to specific traits and strengths in your work, and can be honest and authentic in their recommendation. Plan ahead: If you are lacking good recommenders, ask a colleague or superior (or someone from CTE) to observe you in a class so they are able to write a strong and specific recommendation for you.
• If you can, provide a few student recommendations, but not too many. Unsolicited recommendations are best, like an email sent after a course, or a scanned pdf of a card (Always keep thank you cards from students. Scan yours into PDFs when you receive them so you won’t lose them). You can also include midterm and final course evaluations in your courses, and include student comments in your application.
• This is a section where you can provide a sample or two of your research or outside
work. Again, quality over quantity.
•••
Sue Bae's notes from PHP workshop, Fall 2017; including comments from Administrators
November 8, 2017 PHP1 Workshop Notes (Sue Bae)
1. Teaching Philosophy Statement
· Address the university’s mission organically; doesn’t have to be a separate document; include when addressing the department/programs outcomes
· If your research informs, directly, your teaching, then tie that into your statement
· Likewise, direct your professional life to your teaching
· Don’t just write about it in disconnected manner; demonstrate that/how you live it (the mission) or even part of it
· If having, or had difficult, semester (s), show how you negotiated the difficulties
· Don’t ignore the evals that show you’re struggling; acknowledge and address it
· Often, core courses get lower evals than electives; deans understand this; but explain how you deal with this
· Evidence of asking CTE (or others) to help address issues in teaching or advice for improvement can demonstrate your efforts to improve and engage; this shows honesty and openness/willingness to developing your craft
· But don’t dwell on negative evals if it’s just one semester out of years of good teaching (just an outlier)
· Tell a story; weave together the various skills, experiences, background philosophy
· If you teach a variety of courses/areas, address all areas, but provide enough info about your main area (course you’ve taught most or most like to teach); admin requires enough data for specific course(s) as they will award PHP in specific course(s)
2. Recommendation letters
· Not required; but ideal if it’s from someone at USF who is familiar with your teaching: through direct observation or prolonged knowledge and discussion with you (this demonstrates real evidence of your teaching and philosophy, skills, experience)
· Recommender should be able to speak to your teaching in terms of USF’s mission as background
· Preferably from those with extended experience at USF (FT or PT)
· Department chairs can be recommenders
· Will not be blind recommendations; faculty, themselves, will be submitting the letters
· How many letters: 2-3 is appropriate number
· Student letter is ok, as long as it’s not obviously solicited and speaks to specifics of your teaching and interactions with students re:course, with substantial and appropriate content (be sure to delete any personal information)
3. Suggestions for action (in Nov.):
· Check to see you’ve completed 32 units (in same program/department) & 2 years
· CAS- Claudine can verify your units for you; other colleges – check with your chairs
· Check & gather SUMMAs and BLUEs
· Notify dept. chair/program head
· Request classroom observations (dept chairs or CTE); CTE can come to observe and provide valuable feedback (a formal process and a fresh eye to assess your teaching)
· CAS - Can request to view samples of major application documents from Asst. Dean Claudine Van Delden
· Check in with your assoc. dean if you’re not sure you’re ready to apply; get their recommendation
4. Misc.
· Past Directed Studies units are not counted towards the 32 units
· Recently instated RECs (courses that were changed due to underenrollment) can count as long as there are more than 4 students enrolled; you will received evaluations for these courses (only courses with evaluations will be counted toward total units)
· Can include evals, other than university’s, such as mid-term or end-term evals you do in class (as additional material)
· Evals should consistently score at or above USF mean
· This process can be an assessment of your work (even if you decide not to apply at this time)
· Admin currently awards PHP in a specific course(s); but salary applies to all courses taught in the program/dept; this means your seniority will be limited to the course stated on your php award letter (no seniority or bumping rights outside of those courses); this issue is currently being contested by the union and is under negotiations with university.
· PHP is determined by deans of the colleges
· After receiving PHP, you are allowed a 2-year absence (leave) while retaining status; if you go over 2 years, you need special permission from the dean