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UNM-Albuquerque Chapter
MINUTES OF AAUP DISCUSSION OF
CONTINGENT FACULTY ISSUES
FEBRUARY 11, 2004
The AAUP noontime discussion of contingent faculty on February 11 attracted
between 20 and 25 members of the UNM faculty and staff from a varietyof backgrounds: regular and part-time, main-campus and
branch-campus, teaching and research, undergraduate and professional, administrative and non-administrative. A reporter from
the ALBUQUERQUE TRIBUNE who is working on a story about contingent faculty also attended the meeting; her article is scheduled
to appear before the end of the month.
The wide-ranging conversation brought to light many aspects of contingent-faculty
employment. Everyone who attended learned something new about this complex subject. Low pay that never increases, lack of
job security and amenities, absence of a career track, and discrepancies in pay and workload between amin and branch campuses
are among the issues that came up. The AAUP-UNM COmmittee on Contingent Faculty reported on its February 2 meeting with Provost
Foster, at which solutions for some contingent-faculty problems began to be discussed. Follow-up meetings of the Committee
with the Provost and other administrators are planned.
Meanwhile, those present expressed a desire to continue the
campus-wide dialogue on contingent faculty issues that began this week. A tentative date and time for a second meeting were
proposed: Thursday, March 25, 11:30am - 1:00pm. A Thursday time will, we hope, accommodate some of those who could not attend
the February meeting because of teaching obligations. COnfirmation of the date, time and place will be sent out in early
March. If you have colleagues who would like to be on the AAUP-UNM maillist, please ask them to send their e-mail addresses
to Hugh Witemeyer at hughwit@unm.edu.
Respectfully submitted,
Hugh Witemeyer, President
Niame, Co-Chair, Committee
on Contingent Faculty
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