All adjuncts are welcome to attend open council meetings.
By Blanca Granados
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Amanda Martin, Adjunct Faculty Council chair, explained the demand for better pay, sick leave for adjuncts and the commitment required from them in an interview Feb. 21.
The council has been requesting better pay and sick leave for adjunts since at least 2016, she said.
Martin said she did not know the difference in pay between adjuncts and full-time staff. She said the adjuncts’ pay varies depending on their department, hours and other factors.
“We included it in a compensation proposal back in 2016,” Martin said.
“It’s been a consideration for some time … I could not specify how long,” she said.
The council provides a voice for adjuncts. It is composed of normally no more than 10 representatives. They serve terms of one year with no limit on the number of terms, she said.
Any concerns adjuncts have may first be presented to the council, she said.
Adjuncts are hired to teach classes full-time professors cannot fill, Martin said.
They are part-time employees, she said.
“Usually (they teach) no more than three classes per semester,” she said.
While adjuncts are not required to have a specific number of office hours, many of them schedule time for students outside of class, she said.
Adjuncts made up 60 percent of the faculty at this college only a year or so ago, Martin said. “They are important,” she said.
The requirements to be an adjunct vary by the department, she said.
It requires a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree, depending on the field taught, she said.
“It is important to have adjuncts who are passionate to teach,” she said.
Adjuncts don’t receive many benefits, she said.
The council is working on a survey that will be released in March.
“The survey will let us know any current concerns the adjuncts may have that are not known,” she said.
The council’s next meeting is at 1 p.m. March 19 in Room 303F of Fletcher Administration Center.
For more information on the council, email Martin at amartin@alamo.edu.
