File #9: "SC Faculty Senate, March 30, 2020, Adjunct Pay Motion.pdf"

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Proposal to Recognize/Compensate Adjunct Faculty for Additional Responsibilities Related to Moving
Courses to Distance Learning
Springfield College significantly benefits from committed and dedicated adjunct faculty who teach
courses for us in a wide variety of disciplines. Adjunct compensation, as elsewhere, inadequately reflects
the quality of the instruction provided by adjunct faculty and the degree to which SC depends on them.
Therefore, following a review of statements by professional organizations (e.g. Modern Language
Association), as well as of documentation prepared by other institutions, we request that the Faculty
Senate pass a resolution asking the PLT to do the following:
● Formally acknowledge the service and professionalism of contingent faculty during the
unprecedented circumstances catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic;
● Provide one-time stipends to adjunct faculty members in recognition of the labor associated
with remediating courses that were already underway and for the additional emotional and
pedagogical support that our students will require;
● All considerations of the formative nature of Spring 2020 course evaluations be extended and
communicated to part-time faculty;
● Where possible, enable department chairs and program directors to provide adjunct faculty
members with offers of continued part-time employment for the fall 2020 semester that is
commensurate with their employment for the spring 2020 semester, even if it means reducing
the course cap for certain sections.
Rationale
The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all faculty in terms of the challenges presented by shifting
courses from face-to-face to remote instruction. The additional week of spring break has provided the
time to make the transition in course design and, for many of us, developing and/or improving our skills
related to remote learning resources. This has been a time-intensive process and adjunct faculty have
had to do it, too. In addition, asynchronous on-line instruction typically results in more intensive time
demands on all faculty as there are more assignments to assess and more feedback to provide
electronically to students. We are all also expecting that students’ anxiety will be heightened as they
move into an unfamiliar learning modality which will likely increase student-instructor communication.
This work falls outside the typical adjunct teaching contract at SC and, given the adjunct compensation
at SC, has likely come at a cost of both time and money. At a time of precarious employment, we should
expect that some of our adjunct instructors have lost other non-teaching income and are stretched and
stressed financially.
Some colleges and universities have recognized this additional expectation and are compensating
adjunct faculty for this extra work. As with the room and board rebates to students, additional
compensation, perhaps coming out of unspent travel and conference budget lines, sends a message of
SC’s commitment to fair compensation of our part-time colleagues, and might yield goodwill from fulland part-time faculty, as well as help with employee retention.
While recognizing the financial pressures wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend
that a good-will supplemental stipend to adjunct faculty, possibly funded by remaining
faculty development and department travel grant budget lines.
We are attaching some useful links to articles and professional organization statements about the
ethical obligations to compensate adjunct faculty for the extra work they have been asked to do for the
College.

Articles from publications associated with higher education
● “Adjusting to Emergency Online Instruction Poses Extra Challenges for Adjunct Faculty”
● “Covid-19 Widens Divide Between Secure and Insecure Instructors”
● “Covid-19: How Adjuncts Are Impacted”
Statements from Professional Organizations
● AAUP and AFT Principles for Higher Education Response to COVID-19
● MLA Statement on COVID-19 and Academic Labor
● ASA Statement on Faculty Review and Reappointment Processes During COVID-19 Crisis

MOTION #1
The Faculty Senate acknowledges the service and professionalism of adjunct faculty during the
unprecedented circumstances catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
MOTION #2
While recognizing the financial pressures wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Faculty
Senate recommends that the college provide a one-time good-will supplemental stipend to
adjunct faculty. This good-will stipend is recognition of the labor associated with remediating inperson courses already underway and for the additional emotional and pedagogical support that our
students require with remote teaching.
MOTION #3
The Faculty Senate recommends that the same considerations in the evaluation of teaching being used
with full-time faculty be extended to adjunct faculty.
MOTION #4
The Faculty Senate requests that Department Chairs and Program Directors provide adjunct faculty
members with offers of continued employment in an adjunct capacity for the fall 2020 semester that is
commensurate with their employment for the spring 2020 semester, acknowledging that this may mean
reducing the cap for certain sections of courses.

Notes/additional resources:
● These reflect best practices in the moment.
● https://tenureforthecommongood.org/statement-on-equity-and-teaching-during-the-covid19-epidemic/
● 2018-19 AY. For that year, we had 347 adjunct faculty (210 full-time). So, if the proposal were
to be for $200/person (or if that figure was put forward in the discussion of the motion), that
would be $69,400.
● Other institutions (AW):
○ leaving it the department level; chairs are able to reallocate funds of their own accord
○ look for clauses that compensate anyone for online course development
○ counted the extra week of development time as compensation