A watered-down bill to establish policies governing the use of adjunct college faculty stalled in the Senate Education Committee Monday.
HB152, sponsored by Rep. Paul Shepherd, D-West Jordan, became bogged down in committee after a 2-2 tie vote failed to move the measure to the Senate floor.Originally, HB152 would have required the state Board of Regents to establish a policy that would have set the percentage of hours taught by the adjunct faculty at the state's five community colleges.
Shepherd dropped the percentage requirement from his bill. But the new version still calls for a regent policy on adjunct faculty. The lawmaker said a policy is necessary because of the increasing use of adjunct faculty in the expanding higher education system. He said adjunct faculty teach 54 percent of the classes at Salt Lake Community College and 47 percent at Utah Valley Community College.
Adjunct faculty need to offer counseling hours for students and be involved in ongoing curriculum development in the departments, he said.
Gilbert Cook, UVCC vice president, said adjunct faculty bring a diversity to campus. Without them, the colleges also would have to turn away more students because there wouldn't be enough faculty for the classes, he said.
The bill is really unnecessary, the UVCC official said.