Raises in new contracts for Waubonsee adjunct instructors

Adjunct credit and noncredit instructors who teach at Waubonsee Community College will receive raises of 3.45 percent and 3.76 percent, respectively, under three-year contracts college trustees approved Wednesday.

The credit-hour instructors will be paid 3.45 percent more. The new rate is $750 per credit hour, according to Jim Sibley, Waubonsee's executive director of marketing and communications.

The adult-education (noncredit) instructors will receive a 3.76 percent increase, to $34.50 per contact hour.

Credit hours are the time an instructor is scheduled to teach per week, over the course of a semester, for classes in which students earn credits.

In the spring 2015 semester, Waubonsee had 411 credit adjuncts and 56 adult-education adjuncts.

The board also authorized merit-based pay raises of up to 3.5 percent for all administrators and support staff.

"Waubonsee is a high-performing organization that needs to maintain a strong workforce. The college competes in a much larger labor market and must be able to continue to recruit and retain highly qualified individuals," Sibley said.

For comparison

At College of DuPage, union members who teach credit classes are paid from $1,062 to $1,082 per credit hour, depending on how many terms they have taught at the college.

Adjunct instructors at Elgin Community College are divided into two units: those who teach six or fewer credit hours, and those who teach more. The first unit is paid $890 to $986 per credit or contact hour. The second makes $960 to $1,288 per credit hour, depending on their years of experience and how much graduate education they have received.