On 7/1/2020 the current $1500 per credit adjunct minimum will increase to $1550 per credit.

On 7/1/2022 it will increase to $1600 per credit.

If you taught in F19 or SP20 and earn $1551 to $1999 per credit, you should receive a one-time $500 bonus in your paycheck in SP20 or F20 (the next semester you teach).

If you do not see the raise you deserve reflected in your pay stub, please send and email to both the union and HR (taupaft@gmail.com and hrpayroll@temple.edu) with a copy of your pay stub.

With other new gains for adjuncts, including:

• the establishment of clear qualifications for each rank at each school/college 
• new minimum pay rates per rank and
• The ability to have a formal evaluation to be assessed in relation to the new guidelines

there will be opportunities for adjuncts who earn above the minimum rate to qualify for promotions and raises. Increasing the minimum affects the greatest number of adjunct faculty, and sets a higher starting place for minimums that are established for adjuncts at higher ranks.

There are several significant structural changes that the university has agreed to put in place within 6 months of the ratification of the contract:

 

• Titles/Ranks: When new adjuncts are hired, each school/college will have specific guidelines and qualifications when assigning adjunct ranks/titles (Adjunct Instructor, Assistant Prof., Assoc. Prof and Professor) that will be consistent with university criteria for each rank. Current adjuncts can request a formal evaluation if they feel the title they currently hold is too low.  

 

Your rank and pay rate will remain the same in any department within a school or college at Temple. It is possible to be ranked/paid differently if you teach at more than one college/school.

 

• Minimum pay rates per rank: Each rank will have a minimum pay rate that appropriately reflects the difference in qualifications/experience between each rank.  If your current rank and pay is too low based on the new guidelines, you can request and evaluation for an increase in one or both.

 

• Information and support: Adjuncts will now have much more support and information than in the past.

1. 1. Appointment letters will contain more information, including a link to the guidelines used in establishing your rank.  Adjuncts may request to be appointed at a rank that is appropriate to their experience, and the request and any documentation of qualifications will be considered. 
   2. Appointment letters will include an attachment with links to resources and information regarding working at Temple, assistance that is available, free parking, free textbooks for courses where there is a required text, and more.
   3. Each newly-hired adjunct will have access to an orientation session, contact information for a chair or other faculty member within their department for support, consultation, review of course materials, classroom observation, referrals to the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, or other university resources.  The individual will respond to an adjunct’s request for support or referral in a timely manner.Unemployment:  The contract now contains language that will make it easier for adjuncts to collect Unemployment Compensation between semesters up until the time that an appointment letter is issued. 

 

• Formal Evaluation of Adjunct Faculty:  Each school/college will develop and post guidelines for the formal evaluation of adjunct faculty to be considered for promotion, a pay increase or to request a multi-semester appointment by Summer or Fall of 2020 .  You may request a formal evaluation as frequently as once every two semesters that you teach.

 

Evaluations must include multiple measures of performance which may include classroom observation, a review of course materials, student projects and/or assignments.  Student Feedback Forms will not be used as the primary tool for evaluation except in the case of exceptional circumstances.

 

• Multi Semester Appointments:  Any adjunct faculty may be appointed for single or multiple semesters at the discretion of the dean.  Multiple semester appointments do not need to be for consecutive semesters or for teaching only within one department and may extend beyond an academic year.

The new language in the contract states that “SFFs shall not be used as the sole criterion and shall not be used as the primary criterion for evaluating faculty for hiring, re-appointment, termination or any other personnel decision. In cases of discipline, the University may decide at its sole discretion, to use SFFs as the primary or sole basis for initiating the disciplinary process.”

 

This means that personnel decisions must be based on more than just information received from anonymous student surveys, and their surveys cannot be the primary reason for critical decisions that affect people’s careers.  Because the university is concerned that SFFs may disclose troubling information that only students in a class might be able to report on, they can be used to initiate a disciplinary investigation.

Yes, but we were not going to accept that. Instead, we agreed to informing individuals who come to the union with a discrimination grievance of processes that the university has (independent of the union) for investigating and resolving discrimination cases. 

 

In addition, there is an option now for and additional fact finding step when a grievance reaches Step 2.  Either party may request it to insure that both sides have all the facts in the case, and both TAUP and the administration hope that it may offer more opportunity for an informal resolution if possible.

Because adjuncts are not always informed of full time faculty jobs that are available at Temple, within six (6) months of ratification, the university will develop a method for posting full time faculty openings through its applicant tracking system.  The system will also allow for individuals to establish profiles and email alerts for positions for which they are interested.