Human Resources

Guidelines for Salary and Range Placement and Advancement for Temporary Faculty

Effective: August 2002

There are no specific minimum standards for the initial salary and range placement of temporary faculty members provided in the Unit 3 collective bargaining agreement. Various elements are considered in decisions regarding salary and range placement and advancement. While circumstances may vary somewhat in individual cases, an analysis is conducted considering the decision elements outlined below.

Initial Salary and Range Placement

As a general rule most newly hired temporary faculty will be placed in the Lecturer range consistent with the decision elements listed below and with salaries no higher than the middle of the range. Initial placements that are not consistent with usual placement parameters must be fully discussed with Academic Personnel prior to the submission of a Payroll Transaction Form. Written documentation supporting an exceptional placement must be provided and must be consistent with the decision elements.

Decision Elements

The decision elements listed below are in order of importance in the decision process. In each case, however, the quality and needs of the instructional program should be given primary consideration in making the final placement and/or advancement decision.

Areas of Primary Consideration

  1. A terminal degree appropriate to the teaching discipline. To insure quality of instruction and to meet accreditation standards the appropriate terminal degree is the most important factor in the placement decision. In rare cases an individual without an appropriate terminal degree may be appointed, but the individual must possess qualifications in one or more of the other decision elements listed below. Individuals without appropriate terminal degrees will be placed in the lowest salary range and will not be considered for range advancement.
  2. Teaching experience relevant to the teaching discipline and courses. Both the quality and the length of the teaching experience must be considered. In general, relevant experience will be at the college or university level with university experience given the greater weight. Service as an instructor in the military, a secondary school, technical school or similar institution may be considered, but must be given less weight than college or university teaching.

Areas of Secondary Consideration

  1. Relevant work experience or professional practice. Formal, paid work experience or professional practice may be considered if it can be demonstrated that the experience relates directly to the course or courses to be taught. Some instructional areas, such as theatre, fine art, music, etc. where the practice of the discipline is integral to the instructional program may give more weight to formal experience.
  2. Scholarship/creative activity related to the discipline. Formal research and other scholarly and creative activities may be considered where there is documented evidence. Normally documentation in this area will include publication in a recognized journal or other professionally recognized measures of success.
  3. Service to the University. Service to the University includes active participation on formal committees, specific contributions in curriculum development, accreditation studies, or similar professional activities. University service must be approved in advance by the appropriate dean or director and fully documented.
  4. Exceptional community service. While not normally of significant importance in the placement or advancement decision for part time faculty, service to the community may be considered if it resulted in an exceptional contribution to the community, and/or is directly related to the teaching discipline, and is fully documented.

Application of the Decision Elements

In the application of each of the decision elements listed above it is critical that there be documented evidence of both the length and quality of the experience. For new hires, all degrees must be verified and experience documented by verification from previous employers. In range advancement decisions the complete record of CSUMB employment must be analyzed with special attention and weight given to teaching evaluations. As noted above, the demonstration of actual or potential contribution to the quality of the instructional program should be the primary focus of each decision.

Examples of Range Placement and Education

These are examples only and not to be used as the exclusive means by which salary or range placement is determined. All relevant decision elements need to be considered in the decision process.

Initial appointment Minimum qualifications for initial appointment
Lecturer A Master's degree or equivalent normally required
Lecturer B Doctorate or terminal degree or equivalent normally required
Lecturer C & D Only in the most unusual circumstances would initial appointments of lecturers be at these levels. There may be rare instances when the caliber of a potential candidate is such that to place him/her at the usual levels would be inappropriate, but such occasions would be infrequent.