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Longtime complaint about adjunct reliance: advocates press bill to phase down part‑time course share at CT State Community College
Summary
Union leaders, faculty and students told the Higher Education Committee that Connecticut’s community college system relies heavily on part‑time instructors and urged passage of SB 14‑14, a bill to phase in limits on courses taught by part‑time faculty and increase full‑time hiring.
Union leaders, current and former part‑time instructors, students and higher‑education advocates testified strongly in favor of SB 14‑14, which would phase in a reduction of the percentage of courses taught by part‑time faculty at the Connecticut State Community College system and encourage additional full‑time hires.
Speakers across dozens of testimonies described the current staffing model as heavily dependent on contingent labor. Several witnesses gave similar statistics: roughly three‑quarters of the faculty positions at CT State are held by part‑time instructors, who teach roughly 41–45% of credits. Speakers said that part‑time faculty commonly lack office space, predictable schedules, health care and job security, and that the practice undermines student advising, retention and graduation outcomes.
Ed Hawthorne of the Connecticut AFL‑CIO said the bill would require community colleges to reduce the share of courses taught by part‑time faculty to 25% by July 2028; other witnesses described phasing mechanisms and noted the need for state funding to support conversions to full‑time positions. Faculty union leaders (including representatives from CSU AUP and the 4C’s/SEIU) and full‑time professors testified that universities in the state cap adjunct use at lower rates (CSU limit cited as 20%) and that community colleges’ heavier reliance on adjuncts produces inequities for students who are more likely to be low‑income and first‑generation.
Several faculty members described operational problems caused by part‑time caps and assignment rules: inability to recruit enough adjuncts, splitting lab sections between instructors, and maximum contact‑hour restrictions that prevent assigning additional sections to experienced adjuncts. Testimony from department chairs and faculty in biology and other high‑demand programs described students being taught by multiple instructors across a single course term and difficulties staffing prerequisite courses for allied‑health pipelines.
Union leaders and faculty said educational research links greater access to full‑time faculty with improved student retention, transfer and completion; they framed SB 14‑14 as both a quality and equity measure. Proponents requested accompanying funding for hiring and asked the legislature to hold the Board of Regents accountable to the phased targets. No recorded vote was taken during the hearing; the committee heard wide‑ranging support from faculty, unions and some students and stakeholders.
