With the 2024 legislative session around the corner, Washington state adjunct college faculty hope they will be a priority for lawmakers.

Adjunct faculty teachers at the state’s higher education institutions are often paid far below their full-time faculty counterparts.

Kate Modic, adjunct professor of English at Highline College in Des Moines, said she and her colleagues struggle to get by.

“We have no real job security,” Modic pointed out. “We have contracts from quarter to quarter, and we really rely on the numbers of students enrolling or if full-time faculty get their full load. If they don’t get their full load, our classes can be canceled. So, there’s a lot of job insecurity.”

Modic noted most adjunct faculty do not have offices, which makes it hard to meet with students. They also usually work at multiple colleges. The Washington Education Association is calling for pay parity for adjunct professors during the upcoming legislative session.

Modic explained to start, adjuncts want at least 85% pay parity with full-time faculty.

“We need to be paid better right now across the state of Washington,” Modic contended. “I think that’s why we’re really focusing on pay parity. We need the band-aid and we’re not even getting that.”

Tobi Rosenberg, adjunct professor of English at Bellevue College, said adjuncts are overused and colleges are understaffed, which hurts student success.

“It has a huge impact on students,” Rosenberg argued. “I see this as the gig economy of higher education. We’re the Uber drivers here.”

The legislative session begins on Jan. 8.

— By Eric Tegethoff, Pacific News Service Washington