Hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Service
HB 189 (Retirement Benefits for Part-Time Faculty)
SB 1535 (Group Health Insurance Benefits for Part-Time Faculty)
Testimony by Patricia V. Markunas
President, Massachusetts State College Association
Professor, Salem State College
September 22, 2005

Chairmen Buoniconti and Kaufman and members of the Committee, my name is Patricia Markunas. I am the president of the Massachusetts State College Association, representing the faculty and librarians at the nine state colleges. Of the 2500 members who are represented by MSCA, approximately 500 are faculty members who teach part-time in the state-funded day programs, and another 500 teach part-time in the campus-funded evening and summer school programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. On behalf of the MSCA, I urge your support for favorable recommendations for both SB 1535 and HB 189, for the following reasons.

By and large, part-time faculty are long-term, committed employees whose teaching workload is comparable to that of full-time faculty. Most part-time faculty are reappointed for many consecutive semesters and years, forming a long-term bond with their institution. Oftentimes their semester teaching load involves two or three three-credit courses in the day program and another one or two three-credit courses in the evening program, combining for a teaching workload equivalent to the full-time course load as defined in the faculty contract. Their duties demand far more than the current statutory requirement of 20 hours or more of work per week for eligibility for state group health insurance. Part-time faculty members should be treated on an equitable basis as other part-time state employees and receive state health insurance and retirement benefits.

Part-time faculty members carry these workloads because the stipends paid per course do not provide a sufficient living income for individuals, much less families. The financial exploitation of part-time faculty members by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts - the common employer of all of these faculty members - is barely short of criminal. Providing these much needed health insurance and retirement benefits would be a major step in addressing and reducing this exploitation.

The contribution of part-time faculty to the educational experience of our students represents another justification for paying health insurance and retirement benefits. Part-time faculty often teach introductory and survey courses that are so integral to a student's first and second year experiences at the state colleges. Compensating their work with benefits appropriate to this contribution and equitably with other part-time state employees sends a message that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts values the education it provides to its state college students. It would insure higher quality and stability among the faculty workforce, to the benefit of the students enrolled.

Providing state group health insurance and retirement benefits to our eligible part-time faculty members represents economic justice and good public policy for Massachusetts. I urge your support for SB 1535 and HB 189, and on behalf of the MSCA membership, I thank you for your attention.