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Compensation

Let's explore our current compensation structure for Instructional Faculty at Palomar College and how we can reach pay parity and equity.

Salary Comparison

Instructional faculty come in two forms: Full-Time and Part-Time. There is not a simple way to compare how these two groups are paid. This is in part because of the difference in what faculty are paid for (preparation, grading, etc.) and the salary schedule: Grades and Steps. Watch this video below to get a quick understanding of these differences:

  • Part-Time Office hours were increased to 1.5 hours per unit or non-credit hour per semester

    • maximum of 4.5 office hours per semester for a 3-unit load

    • maximum of 15 office hours per semester for a 10-unit load

  • Institutional Responsibility pay was increased from $15/hr to the Part-Time faculty's non-instructional rate.

  • Full-Time grade G had a technical corrections from AND to OR

    • PT Grade D is only equivalent to FT Grade G and H

Negotiation Wins since this Video:

Salary Comparison: An Activity

How would your salary compare if you were on the other side? Use this anonymous tool below and answer a few questions to see what your pay would be like today as a Part-Time (or Full-Time) faculty.

Take a look at our best guess of Salary Comparisons on this multipage Google Sheet. 

How do we compare Salary for FT and PT Faculty?

In the image below, we see a comparison of the paid opportunities for Full-Time faculty in Blue and Part-Time faculty in Red. To teach a course, there is instructional time, prep, and grading.

 

We see an outline of a red rectangle for Part-Time faculty when it comes to prep and grading because they are NOT compensated for this work (despite still needing to prep and grade). 

Freddie Full-Time is paid for 15 hours in the classroom, plus 15 hours of preparation and grading time, plus 5 Office Hours, plus 5 Institutional responsibility hours, each week. Part-Time Pam is paid for the 9 hours she is in the classroom each week. She is eligible for up to 10 hours of pay for Office Hours PER SEMESTER (equating to 0.6 hours of pay per week). The chart shows that while preparation and grading is a key component to the teaching job, Part-Time faculty are not compensated for this very necessary work, further reducing their salary.

To be able to better compare equal work for equal pay as it pertains to the “Teaching Load,” we have to define a new word: Contact Hour which is defined based on the Full-Time teaching workload.

 

Contact Hour: For each hour spent inside the classroom, there is one hour of work to be completed outside of the classroom

Salary Grades

There are 7 Grades for Full-Time faculty, each based on the number of units past one’s Bachelor’s Degree. Part-Time faculty have 4 Grades, which are based on the number of units past one’s Master’s Degree.

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These two sets of qualifications are not comparable.

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Based on our research be believe the Part-Time Grades are equivalent to the following Full-Time Grades.

Part-Time Grades
Full-Time Grades
A
B & C
B
C, D, & E
C
D, E, F, & G
D
G & H

For more information on how the different Grades create disparity for Part-Time faculty, watch the video below.

Salary Grade Video

Salary Grade Video

Play Video

Salary Steps

Did you know there are 40 Steps for Full-Time faculty and only 10 Steps for Part-Time faculty? To truly see how this difference affects Part-Time faculty, watch the video below.

Salary Steps Parity Video

Salary Steps Parity Video

Play Video

The question becomes: Is this practice fair?

 

We do not believe it is. When hourly compensation is taken into consideration, we see that Full-Time Faculty earn a step increase each year which results in higher pay. If Part-Time faculty cannot earn a Step increase every year, then the percent of salary they earn relative to their equivalently credentialed Full-Time faculty is decreasing every year. 

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As these faculty work toward becoming full-time, we see they will again be stifled by the Salary Step disparities. This system gives Part-Time faculty the message that their service to the college means less than that of their Full-Time colleagues.

What this means for PT Faculty

When a cost of living adjustment (COLA) occurs, we see a specific percentage goes to Full-Time and Part-Time employees to increase their salary schedule. Mathematically, an equal percent increase for both Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty does not mean the same dollar increase, because percentages are relative. 

 

Let’s just make the math simple. Someone making $100/contact hour with a 5% COLA, would now make $105/contact hour for a $5 increase. If their equivalently credentialed Part-Time Faculty were making $50/contact hour, with a 5% COLA they would now be making $52.5 for a $2.50 increase. 

 

While the percentage increase is the same, Full-Time faculty have effectively received double the increase a Part-Time faculty receives. Additionally, Part-Time faculty will have to work at more colleges to keep up with inflation. 

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This system perpetuates the pay disparity instead of fixing it.

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