Under the leadership of Interim President Dr. Fannie Hewlett and her vice presidential cabinet, Chattanooga State announces dramatic improvements for faculty, adjuncts, and students in the upcoming fiscal year budget.
Pending anticipated Board approval, the new budget in development includes an aggressive compensation model for adjunct instructors, replacing a 20+ year “low-paying” model. Also included are new faculty and staff positions, funds for faculty development, and even free parking for faculty and staff.
“The strategies we will fund in our new budget reflect our focus on faculty and staff support, student achievement and the removal of barriers to success” said Dr. Hewlett.
Created and proposed by the academic deans, the new adjunct pay model (shown below) diverges from the more traditional approach of stepwise pay increases based on both degree level and time with the college, by adding a range of flexibility at each step allowing extra compensation for other professional accomplishments. Darrin Hassevoort, dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, said, “This model allows deans to show that we truly value and appreciate our adjuncts.” Dr. Robert Denn, dean of Honors and Academic Support Services, developer of this multi-variate model, said, "It provides the deans the ability to assess the pay per credit hour by defined criteria that are fair and uniform across academic divisions.”
Adjunct instructors have the opportunity to see a substantial increase in pay, with a potential range of approximately 25% at the lowest end of the scale to about 40% at the highest. Tim McGhee, dean of Engineering, said, “Our adjuncts deserve this increase. They have remained dedicated to our students for many years even though they were traditionally underpaid.”
Dr. Kim McCormick, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said, “Currently part-time instructors are earning the same per credit hour as I did when I started as an adjunct 20+ years ago and that is simply unacceptable.”
The deans all agree it will enhance the opportunity to improve quality and consistency of instruction, increase student success, retention, and completion, and allow Chattanooga State to recruit and retain the best instructors in the region. The other division deans responsible for this increase are Dr. Mosunmola George Taylor, Math & Sciences, Dr. Mark Knutsen, Health Sciences, John Haworth, Social & Behavioral Sciences, and Barry Jennison, Business & Information Technology.
In support of full-time employees, a college-wide equity study is underway that may result in pay increases for faculty and staff in the next fiscal year. Tammy Swenson, executive VP for Business and Finance, says that the addition of 9 new faculty and several student support positions is in anticipation of Tennessee Promise growth and the need to support students in high stakes courses such as Math and English. Ms. Swenson said, “The administrative goal is to support faculty and staff in their efforts to provide the best learning environment for students.”