Welcome back, colleagues!

I hope you all are well and excited to begin the spring 2022 semester. This update covers information on NORA preferences, bumping issues, the adjunct professional development fund and important dates. Let’s start with the good news.

Pay increase

As negotiated in the 2019-22 MOA, adjunct faculty receive a 2.5% pay increase this semester and should see it in their first paycheck of the semester. Check payroll dates on the FYI page of this issue and the 2019-22 adjunct rates on the FA website.

NORA preferences

Enrollment continues to decline at the college, and the administration offered fewer sections for the spring semester. As a result, most adjunct faculty received fewer credit hours for the semester than customarily assigned before the pandemic, and many adjunct colleagues did not receive an assignment. Therefore, we continue to advise adjuncts to give full availability on their NORA preference form to strengthen their chances of receiving an assignment for the summer and fall semesters. 

When selecting campus preferences on the NORA form, adjunct faculty now have four choices: Ammerman (A), Eastern (E), Grant (G) and Online (O). The FA encourages adjunct colleagues to choose all campuses in the order of their preference to broaden their availability for assignments. Please note that faculty must be certified to teach online asynchronous courses to request online assignments. Do not choose (O) as a campus if you are not certified to teach online. For information on online training, go to your MySCC page and find the Suffolk Online link. Scroll down and click the Online Faculty page link. The training information is on the bottom right side of the page.

The NORA submission due date is April 9. Be aware that if you miss this deadline, you will drop to the bottom of the B seniority list and most likely will not receive an assignment for the summer and fall semesters. After you submit your NORA form, print a copy of the confirmation for your records. 

Bumping process

The administration canceled hundreds of sections for the spring semester because of the catastrophic decline in enrollment. The bumping process was designed to address seniority issues and avoid the "domino effect" of multiple members being bumped out of assignments once a class is canceled.

According to the long-standing process, the adjunct faculty member "may bump the least senior adjunct in the discipline on the campus(es) that they designated in the NORA form and for courses/assignments for which they are certified." Keep in mind that the process also follows the principle that "no adjunct faculty member on the A list gets two courses or assignments in the discipline before another adjunct faculty member in the discipline gets one." If you have questions about how this policy applies to your specific assignments, don't hesitate to contact me for further clarification.

Adjunct professional development fund

Remember to submit your professional development fund forms right away before this first-come, first-served funding runs out. Use these funds for virtual and in-person conferences and workshops. Submit applications for the spring semester to the Office of Adjunct Services.

Important dates

• March 8 — adjunct promotion A1 form due
• March 25 — adjunct course certification request form due
• March 29 — adjunct NORA forms available: summer and fall
• April 9 — adjunct NORA forms due*
• May 2 — adjunct accept/decline open: summer and fall
• May 13 — adjunct accept/decline due: summer and fall

* If not submitted on time, you won't be on the seniority list and won't receive an assignment until after all other adjuncts who have submitted the NORA receive their assignments.

Feel free to contact me by email or phone (631-451-4151) if you have any questions or I can further assist you.

Have a great semester!

Best,

Kim