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Adjunct faculty testify about denied unemployment, missing benefits and precarious pay
Summary
Adjuncts and unions told the Senate Higher Education Committee that many part‑time instructors face denied summer unemployment, fragmented retirement accounts, and unaffordable health care; AFT New Jersey proposed reporting, consolidated pensions and clearer unemployment standards.
Adjunct faculty and union leaders urged the Senate Higher Education Committee to address long‑standing employment instability that leaves many part‑time instructors without health care, reliable unemployment eligibility or consolidated retirement benefits.
Two adjuncts testified with personal accounts. Carl Gunhouse (S9), who has taught part time for more than two decades, described being denied unemployment despite receiving a written HR letter that he said confirmed he had no summer work. “ I applied for unemployment … despite written assurances from the university that I was unemployed … my unemployment claim was challenged, ” Gunhouse told the committee, and he said his appeal remains unresolved a year later.
Thomas Mumji (S11), an adjunct with assignments at multiple New Jersey institutions, described a pattern of precarious employment: “ I was fired on a Friday at Rutgers this March and rehired on Monday, ” he said, adding that adjuncts often work the equivalent of full‑time hours across multiple schools yet cannot aggregate those roles for benefits eligibility.
AFT New Jersey president Jennifer Higgins (S17) presented union recommendations: require institutions to report the credit hours they will hire each adjunct to teach after breaks (to speed unemployment‑eligibility determinations); impose meaningful consequences for schools that do not report rehiring intentions; require institutions to report hours and earnings uniformly; and consolidate adjunct pension accounts so educators receive credit for contributions across employers.
The committee heard estimates and context: adjunctification is widespread in higher education (committee members cited figures that 35–45% of instructional staff at colleges nationwide are adjuncts), many adjuncts lack health insurance or must pay 100% of state plan premiums plus administrative fees, and some adjuncts earn more than $70,000 annually yet still face coverage gaps because work is split across institutions.
On unemployment specifically, AFT and witnesses urged the committee to narrow the definition of “reasonable assurance” of continued employment. Higgins said reasonable assurance is currently overly broad — potentially as informal as a verbal comment — and recommended clearer, documentable standards that would let unemployment examiners and adjuncts determine eligibility more quickly.
Committee response and next steps: Committee members expressed concern and committed to drafting proposals to address unemployment eligibility and health‑benefit fairness for adjuncts. The chair said staff will begin drafting legislation to improve unemployment‑insurance clarity and examine potential options on health coverage and retirement consolidation.
What’s next: The committee asked staff to consult with labor and higher‑education stakeholders and return with draft language; no formal votes were taken on adjunct‑specific legislation at this hearing.
