by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
House Bill 384 gets the ball rolling to increase compensation and benefits for part-time faculty at New Mexico colleges and universities, said Democratic Rep. Danice Picraux, who introduced the bill.
The bill passed in the House and Senate but has not been signed by Gov. Bill Richardson.
Picraux said part-time faculty are vital to higher education but aren't paid what they deserve.
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"These part-timers, or non-tenured lecturers - they may have different ranks and names - they're vital," she said. "The schools have become reliant on these faculty in order to hold realistically sized classes and offer a variety of courses, and it's time to pay them fairly."
Niame, a part-time sociology instructor who has only one name, said there's no uniform pay schedule for part-time faculty at UNM.
The best-paid instructors in the sciences make about $8,000 per course on Main Campus, while instructors at UNM's Valencia County branch earn less than $2,000, Niame said.
Picraux said the bill aims to fix salary irregularities with a pay schedule.
"It could include how long you've taught, what kind of expertise you bring - all kinds of stuff," she said.
The bill mandates that the New Mexico Higher Education Department make a report for the governor and the Legislature. The report will outline a plan and budget for salaries, benefits and career track for part-time faculty.
It also states funding will come from the Legislature, not schools' budgets.
The Legislature will review the report and determine how much funding can be allocated from the general fund for part-time faculty.
Niame said there are about 1,200 faculty members who teach part-time in the UNM system, but they aren't specifically included in the budget.
"We do not exist in UNM's budget, and we're not considered when the Board of Regents looks at the budget," she said. "We're not considered true employees. We work semester-to-semester, which means we get no benefits, and we have no job security. We're nonentities in a lot of ways."
Jamie Koch, president of the Board of Regents, said the University will not increase wages for part-timers out of its own budget.
"We're not increasing salaries for part-time faculty," he said. "If the Legislature funds money to the University without a tuition increase, then obviously we would support that, but only if the Legislature funds it."
Picraux said the bill was delayed because some schools were concerned the wage increase would come from their budgets.
She said the bill is a crucial step toward providing better pay and job security for part-time faculty, but they won't see a raise for at least a year.
"We will have to go back into session next year after the pay schedule study is submitted by the Department of Higher Education," she said. "Then, we can begin the process of appropriating funds to pay for increases for the part-timers."
