Category: Adjunct

November 7, 2018

Final Days: Please Respond to the Adjunct Office Space Survey

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TAUP has been meeting with members of the administration in a Labor-Management Committee dedicated to understanding adjunct office needs. Together, we’ve developed a survey that will give us a sense of the conditions that adjuncts work under at different schools.

Responding to the survey is critical in helping us understand where to focus as we look toward improving the working conditions of all adjunct faculty.

Though many have already responded to the survey, we would like to hear from everyone. If you haven’t had a moment to respond yet, please consider doing so now. The last day to submit the survey will be on Saturday (November 10^th).

You can securely access the survey by logging in to TUportal. You can access the survey on the section of your portal page entitled “Next Steps”.

We have been assured that the TUportal does not affect the anonymity of the survey. Your responses will not be linked to any personally identifiable information.

Please note:

If you teach in multiple departments, please focus your responses in your primary department. If you don’t have a primary department, you can use the department where you have taught or worked the most often.

Your participation is crucial in helping us to understand where needs have been met, and where attention needs to be focused to improve adjunct working conditions.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this important process.

September 10, 2018

Adjunct Constituency Council Special Election Nominations

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The Adjunct Constituency Council (ACC) is seeking nominations and self-nominations for upcoming vacant position(s) on the council, which is the representative body for Adjuncts in our union. Any active adjunct TAUP member is welcome to run for this position. (Active in this case means an adjunct who is not in their first semester teaching at Temple and who has not had a break of more than one semester in teaching.)

However, since our bylaws limit the number of representatives from any one college and since we already have excellent representation on the ACC from the College of Liberal Arts, we are seeking candidates from other schools, especially Fox, Klein, and CST.

The ACC is the representative body for adjuncts in our union. We work to ensure that adjuncts’ issues and concerns are appropriately addressed in our union and specifically in the next period, in contract negotiations coming up in 2019.

Candidates should be available for a monthly meeting on campus, and to take on a dedicated role to be determined, with expectation of regular communication over email and on google docs between meetings.

New ACC members will also be strongly encouraged to take part in building our union membership through conversations with colleagues in their classrooms, offices, and at tabling events.

No prior experience or union leadership is necessary, just a willingness to contribute your skills and a desire to strengthen our union!

Nominations and Self-Nominations should be sent by Monday, September 24th, to Zoe Cohen ACC Chair, at zoeart@gmail.com. Please include name, school, department, and a short paragraph explaining why you want to run for the ACC and what you feel you would bring to our union leadership structure.

August 28, 2018

Adjunct Faculty Welcome Back Reminders and Updates!

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Greetings to everyone returning to teach this week! The Adjunct Constituency Council (ACC) of TAUP has compiled a list of timely reminders and information for the start of your semester, just scroll down!

But first, we want to be sure you know about an event we’re having to kick off the school year. You may have attended school or departmental orientations, now you can meet your adjunct colleagues and get more information on any of the items below and more at our union’s…

Adjunct Dis-Orientation!

THIS Wednesday August 29th, 4-6pm

The Draught Horse

1431 Cecil B. Moore

Whether you’re new to Temple or you’ve been teaching here for years, come by, say hi and enjoy your first drink on us!

RSVP HERE!

Parking Permits

Adjuncts are eligible for free parking at Temple lots on days that you are required to be on campus.You can find details on our Adjunct FAQ page

Health Insurance- Sign up before the end of the month!

Adjuncts who are eligible for the TAUP bargaining unit can sign up for health insurance with a subsidy from Temple. Click here to confirm your eligibility. Then go here for benefit information and for the application links.

Course Cancellations: Fees & Unemployment

If you have a course cancelled within 7 days of the start of the semester through the end of the drop/add period, you are eligible to receive a payment of 4% of what you would have been paid for the semester.

Whether your course was cancelled recently or not, if you are not being employed by the University at the same level as you were in the Spring, you may be eligible to apply for Unemployment Compensation, even if you have other income.

Be sure to contact us if either of these apply to you.

Adobe Creative Suite Access

This summer, according to the IT Department, there was an error that inadvertently removed access for “inactive adjunct faculty”. Any returning faculty that lost access during due to this error can renew their access at any time by visiting TUPortal and following the “Adobe Creative Cloud” link in the applications menu.

Have you Read the TAUP Adjunct Contract?

Go here to read over our union contract and let us know if you have any questions! We’ll be in negotiations for an even stronger contract in the Spring and we need your input and suggestions.

Best Practices: Employment Letter & SFF’s

Always be sure to download, print out and file away your Employment Letters every semester.

This term, be sure that you are receiving the $1500 per credit rate that was negotiated for adjuncts. It’s also wise to download your SFF’s for future reference.