TRS Responds to Questions on Adjuncts
TRS RESPONDS TO QUESTIONS ON ADJUNCTS
By Richard Moore / February 14, 2014 / Comments Off
The question of exactly when part-time instructors must receive mandated benefits has caused confusion and concern for a long time. Many adjuncts have been restricted in the number of classes they are allowed to teach, and colleges remain challenged in interpreting federal and state guidelines on course loads.
A key agency in this matter is the Texas Retirement System, which rules upon legal eligibility for full-time status. Here is a recent post on the subject. Here is a more general site on eligibility. You will note that it is relatively simple to formulate a definition of "full-time" for public school employees. However, with part-time community college teachers, it's complicated.
Since last fall, TCCTA has solicited precise and official answers from TRS on a number of related issues, and the agency replied recently with detailed responses. Hats off to Bill Simcik, Lone Star College–Tomball, for composing several pertinent questions as they relate to his college. Thanks also to TRS for responding in detail to each scenario.
Please keep in mind that the questions and responses may not cover all situations at every institution. Also, the discussion will likely continue, as new answers tend to generate new questions. However, community college educators, especially those who make personnel decisions, will likely be interested in the responses from TRS.
Below is the verbatim Q&A.
QUESTIONS POSED TO TRS REGARDING ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBERS
AND ELIGIBLITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN TRS
Questions related to TRS rules 25.1 and 25.6
1. My institution is aggressively limiting the number of sections an adjunct can teach in conjunction with teaching assignments at other institutions. Hours of teaching for adjuncts are being counted this current semester along with proposed assignments for spring linked to assignments at other institutions to determine which adjuncts may become benefits eligible. This approach will harm adjuncts who depend on assignments at more than one institution. Is this approach consistent with the intent of TRS? If it is not consistent with TRS intent is their guidance from TRS available?
TRS Answer: By statute, employment with a TRS-covered employer for one-half the full-time load, for a period of four and one-half months or more, with the compensation rate comparable to other employees similarly employed is membership eligible employment. By administrative rule, TRS established specific limits for adjunct faculty.
For adjunct faculty, employment for at least 20 hours or more per week is membership eligible if the employment is expected to last for more than one semester or in fact does continue for more than one semester. Because employment with all TRS-covered employers must be considered in determining if the employee is membership eligible it is appropriate to consider assignments with other TRS-covered employers in making the determination. This is not a new requirement.
However, even if an adjunct faculty member is teaching 20 hours per week or more for the fall semester, membership eligibility in TRS can be avoided if the employee’s spring course load is reduced to less than 20 hours per week. NOTE: The number of hours of instruction in a classroom or lab must be multiplied by 2 to get the clock hours per week. Employers have been instructed to make the decision regarding membership eligibility at the time the person is employed based on work load and expected period of employment. Membership eligibility should be re-evaluated when a change in assignment such as an increase or decrease in work load occurs.
If an adjunct faculty member works a sufficient amount of hours to be eligible for membership in TRS and then later in the same school year drops to fewer than 20 hours per week, the employer must continue to withhold member contributions for the remainder of the school year, provided the employee has already earned a year of TRS service credit in that school year. A school year for TRS purposes is a period of time from September 1 to August 31.
2. Does the following information guiding our decisions appear to be correct?
For Fall 2013, (including December Mini-Mester which begins on December 16 and concludes January 5 for the 3 week session and January 12 for the 4 week session) and Spring 2014, adjunct faculty may teach up to the following number of total credit hours:
- TRS Retirees – 15 credit hours
- Full-time TRS eligible through another institution/agency – 15 credit hours
- Adjunct – 18 credit hours
TRS Answer: A TRS retiree who retired before January 1, 2011 may teach an unlimited number of hours without losing a monthly annuity. However, the employer will owe a pension surcharge to TRS equal to the member and state contribution rate on compensation paid by that employer to the retiree if the retiree retired after September 1, 2005. The current member contribution rate is 6.4% and the current state contribution rate is 6.8% for a total of 13.2% of compensation.
A TRS retiree who retired after January 1, 2011and who has not served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service from employment with all TRS-covered employers may work the equivalent of 4 clock hours for every work day in that calendar month without forfeiting the annuity for that month. A work day is any Monday through Friday without regard to whether the day is a holiday, whether the employer is open for business, or whether the retiree is scheduled to work that day.
In direct response to the first bullet – TRS Retirees – 15 credit hours:
If the retiree retired before January 1, 2011 or if the retiree retired after January 1, 2011 but has served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service from employment with all TRS-covered employers, the retiree may teach 15 credit hours without forfeiting the annuity for that calendar month, if teaching 15 credit hours means the retiree is providing 15 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab each week. However, a pension surcharge may apply. If the retiree retired after January 1, 2011 and has not served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service, the retiree will forfeit the annuity for any month the retiree teaches 15 credit hours, if teaching 15 credit hours means the retiree is providing 15 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab each week. If so, teaching fifteen credit hours is the equivalent of working 30 clock hours (15 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab times 2 hours = 30 clock hours) and retirees who have not served the required break in service are limited to working no more than the equivalent of 4 clock hours for each Monday through Friday in that calendar month.
Second bullet- Full-time TRS eligible through another institution/agency – 15 credit hours:
If an adjunct faculty member is TRS eligible because of full-time employment with another TRS-covered employer, there is no limit established by TRS on how much the adjunct faculty member may work. Member contributions will be owed on all compensation paid by all TRS-covered employers. This response assumes that the adjunct faculty member is not a TRS retiree. However, if the adjunct faculty member is a retiree and is working full-time at another TRS-covered employer, the retiree
- is already forfeiting his/her retirement annuity for that month because he/she retired after January 1, 2011 and has not served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service. In this instance, the only additional cost associated with the employment as an adjunct is the pension surcharge owed by the employer;
- is not required to forfeit the monthly annuity because he/she retired after January 1, 2011 but served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service from employment with all TRS-covered employers and is not required to forfeit a monthly annuity due to employment with a TRS-covered employer. In this instance both employers will owe a pension surcharge to TRS because the retiree’s full-time work plus work as an adjunct faculty member exceeds the equivalent of 4 clock hours for every work day in that calendar month; or
- is not required to forfeit the monthly retirement annuity because he/she retired before January 1, 2011. Both employers will owe a pension surcharge based on the compensation they pay the retiree if the retiree retired after September 1, 2005 and the work for both employers exceeds the equivalent of 4 clock hours for each work day in that month.
Third bullet- Adjunct – 18 credit hours:
If teaching 18 credit hours means the adjunct faculty member is providing 18 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab each week, then the person is working the equivalent of 36 clock hours (18 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab times 2 = 36 clock hours). If the adjunct faculty member is not a TRS retiree, teaching 18 hours in the classroom or lab is TRS membership eligible employment. If the adjunct faculty member is a TRS retiree and teaching 18 credit hours means the retiree is providing 18 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab each week, the retiree is working more than the equivalent of 4 clock hours for each work day in that calendar month and the work will trigger the payment of a pension surcharge if the retiree retired after September 1, 2005 and will trigger the loss of the monthly retirement annuity for that month if the retiree retired after January 1, 2011 and the retiree has not served a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service from employment with all TRS covered employers.
3. And, does the reporting period beginning of fall semester 2013 to the end of spring semester 2014 include a spring mini-mester from May 12-June 1 2014?
TRS Answer: All work for a TRS-covered employer should be included when determining if the adjunct faculty member is eligible for membership in TRS. However, the employer should evaluate the eligibility when the person is first hired to determine if the work is one-half or more of the full-time load (at least 20 clock hours per week for adjunct faculty members) and expected to last more than one full semester. If the answer is no, the adjunct faculty member is not eligible for TRS membership in the fall semester. If the adjunct faculty member either continues to work during the winter mini-mester and into the spring semester, the employer should re-evaluate the employment to determine if the adjunct faculty member is now membership eligible. If so, the employer should begin reporting the adjunct faculty member to TRS for the report month that eligibility is established. This will usually occur with the January report month.
4. How does TRS rule 25.1 apply to adjuncts teaching 4 credit hour classes?
TRS Answer: Rule 25.1 requires the employer to determine the number of hours of instruction in the classroom or lab provided by the adjunct faculty member. The number of hours of instruction must be multiplied by 2 to determine the equivalent number of clock hours. If an adjunct faculty member teaches 4 hours in the classroom or lab each week for a 4 credit hour class, then the equivalent number of clock hours is 8 (4 hours of instruction times 2 = 8). If a 4 credit hour class requires more than 4 hours of instruction per week, then use the actual number of hours of instruction and multiply by 2 to get the number of clock hours that should be used to determine if the adjunct faculty member is working 20 hours per week or more. Keep in mind that a 4 credit hour class taught during a mini-mester or during a summer session may require more than 4 hours of instruction in the classroom per week. In these cases, the employer should use the actual number of hours of instruction each week and multiply that number by 2 when assessing membership eligibility. For an adjunct faculty member, 20 clock hours per week for a period of more than one semester is membership eligible employment.
5. Based on an interpretation of TRS rules by my institution as they seemingly apply to the eligibility of adjuncts for benefits does the following approach meet TRS intent and guidelines?
- Although Summer 2014 will not be included in the measurement period for current adjunct faculty, summer hiring guidelines still apply. Adjuncts hired after 1/1/14 will have a nine-month measurement period up to 9/1/14.
TRS Answer: No. There is no nine-month measurement period for TRS purposes. The employer should be evaluating employment as an adjunct faculty member based on whether the employment is expected to last more than one semester or re-evaluating the employment when it continues more than one semester.
Starting fall 2014 and through summer 2015, all adjunct faculty may teach up to 15 credit hours.
TRS Answer: No. The membership eligibility standard for adjunct faculty of 20 clock hours per week is currently in effect beginning September 1, 2013. Adjunct faculty teaching 15 credit hours are working the equivalent of 30 clock hours per week (if 15 credit hours means that the faculty member is providing 15 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab) and are eligible for membership if the employment at that level is expected to last for more than one semester or does in fact continue for more than one semester.
Adjunct faculty may teach up to 9-credit hours in a given semester but cannot exceed the maximum total credit hours during the measurement period.
TRS Answer: Yes and No. Again, the measurement period for adjunct faculty members is more than one semester. An adjunct faculty member may consistently teach no more than 9 credit hours and remain ineligible for membership in TRS if teaching 9 credit hours means the adjunct faculty member is providing instruction in the classroom or lab for 9 hours per week (9 hours of instruction times 2 = 18 clock hours). Adjunct faculty members who are TRS retirees must adhere to the limitations discussed above if they retired after January 1, 2011 and have not observed a 12 full, consecutive calendar month break in service. A pension surcharge may also be owed if the retiree retired after September 1, 2005 and the work exceeds the equivalent of 4 clock hours for every work day in that calendar month.
Course hours or credits, instructional units, or any other unit representing class or instruction time is to be converted to clock hours and counted as a minimum of two clock hours for each hour of instruction.
TRS Answer: Yes.
Adjunct faculty may not concurrently hold a part-time support staff position, such as tutor.
TRS Answer: No. Adjunct faculty may hold other positions, but if the total of all hours worked (hours worked as an adjunct faculty member and converted to clock hours and any other type of work measured in work hours) is 20 hours or more, the adjunct faculty member is eligible for membership is TRS. For example, an adjunct faculty member teaches 6 credit hours in the fall semester and works as a tutor and is paid an hourly rate for tutoring 6 hours per week. If the adjunct faculty member is providing 6 hours of instruction in the classroom or lab per week, multiply the amount of instruction by 2 to determine that the adjunct faculty work is 12 clock hours per week. Add the 6 clock hours of tutoring to the 12 clock hours of instruction to determine that the person is working 18 hours per week. Working 18 hours per week is not eligible for membership in TRS in this scenario.
Credit hours worked by adjuncts that were employed as a 70% faculty (full-time teaching load benefits eligible with no other responsibilities besides those related to instruction) during a semester within the measurement period do not count toward the maximum allowed credit hours for adjuncts.
TRS Answer: No. All work for a TRS-covered employer must be considered in determining if the employee is eligible for membership in TRS. Persons employed as 70% faculty ( full-time teaching load benefits eligible)whose work is measured in semester hours, credit hours, instructional units, or other units of time representing class or instructional time must have the work converted to clock hours using the 2 to 1 conversion ratio. Working 20 hours per week or more is membership eligible employment, regardless of the title given the employment by the employer.
Adjunct faculty may work as a substitute on a limited basis as long as the average hours worked per week remains at or below 19.5 hours. Time spent substituting counts as hour-per-hour.
TRS Answer: No. Work as a substitute is not eligible for membership in TRS – no matter how often the person serves as a substitute. A substitute for TRS purposes is a person serving in the place of another current employee i.e., the position cannot be vacant. In other words, a person serving as a substitute for adjunct faculty may work any number of days or hours without triggering membership eligibility – provided the person is serving in the place of another, current employee. Also, TRS retirees may substitute without limit and without forfeiting the monthly retirement annuity. However, if the retiree combines substituting and regular employment in the same calendar month, the retiree is limited to working no more than one-half the work days in that calendar month. The number of hours worked when combining substitute and other employment in the same calendar month is not considered.
Instructors teaching dual credit only do not have to be tracked.
TRS Answer: No. All employment for all TRS-covered employers must be considered/tracked in determining if the employee is eligible for membership in TRS or if the employee is a TRS retiree, whether the limits on employment after retirement have been exceeded or a pension surcharge is owed. Dual-credit teachers who teach in a Texas public school are eligible for membership in TRS if the combined employment by both the public school and the institution of higher education is one-half time or more and the employment is expected to continue 4 ½ month or more or for adjunct faculty – the employment is expected to last for more than one semester or does in fact continue for more than one semester.
6. Do we have the following correct as to hiring dates?
Hire dates impact the measurement period.
TRS Answer: Again, there is no measurement period established by TRS except that the employment is expected to last for more than one semester or does in fact continue for more than one semester.
Current employees (hired before 12/31/13) will have the measurement period of 9/1/13 – 5/31/14. This means that the December mini will be counted.
TRS Answer: No. An employee who worked 20 hours per week or more in the 2013 fall semester who continues to work 20 hours per week or more in the 2014 Spring semester should be reported to TRS as a member and TRS member contributions withheld beginning with the January, 2014 report to TRS. The measurement period is whether the adjunct faculty member is expected to teach more than one semester or in fact, does continue to teach more than one semester.
New employees (hire dates after 1/1/14) will have a nine-month measurement (evaluation) period up to 9/1/14, which includes summer.
TRS Answer: No. An employee who works 20 hours per week or more in the 2014 Spring semester and who continues to work 20 hours per week or more in the 2014 Summer sessions should be reported to TRS as a member and TRS member contribution withheld beginning with the June, 2014 report to TRS.
Beginning 2014 – 2015, the measurement period will be one full year from an adjunct’s hire date (if it is the 1st of the month), or the first of the month following their hire date. (10/13 hire date = 11/1 to 10/31 measurement period)
TRS Answer: No. The same membership criteria apply for both the 2013-2014 and the 2014-2015 school years. If an adjunct faculty member was membership eligible based on employment in the 2013-2014 school year and begins the same schedule in the 2014-2015 school year, the employee should continue to be reported to TRS as membership eligible and member contributions withheld for the entire year.
If the adjunct faculty member was not eligible for membership in 2013-2014 and begins again with the same schedule for the 2014-2015 school year (either less than 20 hours per week or 20 hours per week or more but the employment is expected to continue only 1 semester) – the adjunct faculty member is not eligible for membership in TRS for the 2014 fall semester. If the adjunct faculty member continues for the 2015 spring semester with less than 20 hours per week, the person is not eligible for membership in TRS.
However, if the adjunct faculty member was working at least 20 hours per week in the 2014 fall semester and the employment was not expected to continue more than one semester, but in fact the adjunct faculty member continues to work 20 hours per week or more in the 2015 spring semester, the adjunct faculty member is eligible for membership in January 2015 and the employer should report the person to TRS as membership eligible and withhold TRS member contributions and forward the contributions to TRS beginning with the January, 2015 report to TRS.
7. How are team taught courses calculated with an adjunct and full time faculty or 2 adjuncts?
TRS Answer: Count the number of hours of instruction in the classroom or lab provided by each individual and multiply that number by 2 to convert the time into clock hours and evaluate the time worked using the standard discussed above. If both adjunct faculty members are responsible for the class, consider the total time of instruction in the classroom or lab required for the course and multiply by 2 to determine the number of hours credited to the employees. Do not count only one-half the hours in this instance.
How will a 1-credit hour for 1-week course count (Non Credit Based Option)?
TRS Answer: TRS does not consider whether the course was “Non Credit Based Option”. Multiply the number of hours of instruction provided in the one week time period times 2 to determine the number of clock hours. If this one-week period is not a regular class – average it with other time worked in that same calendar month to determine the average weekly schedule of time worked.
Most likely, a one-week class will not alter membership eligibility. However, a TRS retiree who teaches a one-week class in addition to regular work may find that the total number of hours worked in that calendar month exceeds the equivalent of 4 clock hours for every work day in that month and causes the retiree to forfeit the retirement annuity for that month and/or the employer to owe a surcharge. See the discussion above regarding the limits on employment after retirement for additional information.
8. Is it TRS’ intent that for an adjunct to be benefits eligible all teaching assignments regardless of institution are counted?
TRS Answer: Yes. Membership eligibility requirements are established by law. The TRS plan terms require that all employment with all TRS-covered employers must be considered in determining membership eligibility. Employment as a substitute is not considered employment for TRS membership eligibility purposes. A substitute for TRS purposes is a person serving in the place of another current employee.
9. Based on a date (hiring, assignment, etc.) the last institution to hire/assign an adjunct to a section(s) who is determined to be TRS benefits eligible is responsible for those benefits?
TRS Answer: It is not the last employer who is responsible to determine if the employee is eligible for membership in TRS; it is each employer that is responsible for determining if an employee is eligible for membership in TRS. Employers should review employment applications for employment with other TRS-covered employers and ask employees if they are also working for another TRS-covered employer. An employee who becomes membership eligible in TRS by virtue of the “second” employment should be reminded to notify other TRS-covered employers that the employee is now eligible for membership in TRS because of concurrent employment with more than one TRS-covered employer.