KALAMAZOO, MI -- Part-time professors brought a fight for what they deem fair pay to the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Board of Trustees after nine months of contract negotiations.
A handful of adjunct professors at the community college came to make their case for higher wages to the Board of Trustees Tuesday, Dec. 11.
Rebekah Foster spoke during public comment on behalf of the adjunct professors, calling for an end to negotiations. She said while she is happier teaching than when she was working in her career field, she is making less money, which has put strain on her life.
Foster is an adjunct professor of biology at KVCC.
Without a “supportive spouse,” Foster wouldn’t be able to stay in her role in the classroom, she said.
“I don’t know how sustainable this is,” she said about teaching at KVCC.
The Kalamazoo Valley Community College Federation of Teachers began negotiations with KVCC in March. The union’s first contract with the college came in 2015 and was valid through the last day of the summer semester in August, according to the 2015 contract.
Adjunct professors are eligible for a pay raise after teaching at least one semester of three consecutive academic years at the college, according to the contract. Professors that work three consecutive years received Continuing Status, which entitles them to higher pay.
In the three years of their first contract, adjunct professors received two 1 percent increases following a half percent increase after their first year.
An adjunct professor teaching a lecture-style course with 15 to 45 students made $814 per credit hour in the 2017-2018 school year. Those with Continuing Status earned $874 per credit hour.
College spokesperson Mike Collins said negotiations are ongoing.
“We hope to come to a resolution of what we believe to be an equitable solution to the contract," Collins said.
Vice President of Human Resources Aaron Hilliard said KVCC’s wage for adjunct professors is “extremely competitive” with wages offered by other Michigan community colleges.
Adjunct professors are part-time employees for KVCC who cannot work more than 29.5 hours each week. Under healthcare requirements implemented by the Affordable Care Act, those employees cannot reach 30 hours in a work week, adjunct professor Steve Swetich said.
Most professors work for multiple colleges in the area or take other part-time jobs on the side, he said.
The group brought anonymous testimony from other KVCC professors meant to be read to the board Tuesday. A time limit for public comment and a rule that only one person speak on the topic prohibited this, Swetich said.
The college employs about 130 full-time professors and 235 adjunct professors, Collins said.
During the meeting, trustees discussed the value of retaining students and growing enrollment. Contact with students is the “life-blood” of the college, Swetich said.
“We’re the ones who see the students more than anyone," he said. “They’re not investing in the people who work with the students.”