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June 2014

The FA substitution process and seniority in adjunct assignments

Cynthia Eaton

 

Substitution procedures for all FA members (full and part time)

From time to time, hours will become available after assignments for a particular semester/session have been determined. For example, an adjunct might become too ill to finish the semester and will need to relinquish the courses she’s teaching, or administration might decide to open an instructional lab during a break.

The FA has a procedure for filling such assignments, as indicated by the following agreement dated March 7, 1983.

Definition

A substitute shall be an individual employed in emergency situations for as assignment expected to last less than one semester. The character of the assignment is unchanged by the circumstance that the assignment continues for the entire semester.

Selection

Every effort should be made to notify all qualified full-time faculty in the discipline on the campus 48 hours before the substitute assignment would begin. Full-time faculty with less than the maximum overload should be preferred over senior faculty with maximum overload.

Then, the most senior full-time faculty member volunteering should be given prime consideration. If no volunteers are found, full-time faculty on the other campuses should be offered the work, and then adjuncts.

Limitations

Substitute hours shall not be counted as part of the total workload and shall not constitute an excess of load. No one individual shall receive more than two sections on a substitute basis before the mid- semester point.

Promotion Eligibility

Employment as a substitute shall not count toward the semester or credit requirements for promotion.

Salary

Substitutes are to be paid on the adjunct salary schedule, i.e., the per contact hour rate divided by fifteen, and the

substitute paid for each class hour of work. Substitutes shall be paid only if officially hired as a substitute.

It should be understood that the faculty member who is absent due to illness must charge sick leave whether or not a paid substitute is provided.

most senior person in the department or area get everything he or she wants?” No. Seniority is just one of several factors that determine assignments. Assignments are based on certifications, seniority, NORA availabilities and campus preferences. See how seniority

is just one ingredient in the mix? Consider this example. Say the most senior FA member in a department is only certified to teach one course (COL101), identified only weekends on his NORA form and only listed one campus. Due to limited availability, he might well be offered a single assignment, while less senior adjuncts have three assignments.Conversely, if less senior adjuncts have the appropriate certifications, campus preferences and NORA availabilities to be offered specific assignments, the most senior faculty member in that area should not have three assignments while the least senior only has one assignment. This is because assignments are made in a “round robin” fashion so that everyone gets one assignment before anyone gets two, everyone gets two assignments before anyone gets three, and so on.

Finally, adjunct seniority is college wide, so campus preference cannot “trump” college-wide seniority. E.g., if you’re an adjunct in an instructional lab, a junior adjunct on your second- choice campus should not have three assignments while you only have one.

How seniority, certifications, NORA availability and campus preference affect assignments

I recently had some questions about “the de- gree to which seniority is the determining factor” for assignments; or, in other words, “doesn’t the