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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

The Case of the Disappearing Full-Time Faculty

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013   

BOSTON - The state's community colleges are not hiring enough full-time faculty, according to a new report.

The abundance of part-time, adjunct faculty - now more than two-thirds of all faculty - is depriving students of valuable guidance and leading to more dropouts, according to the report from the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Community college students tend to rely on the college for more guidance than students at four-year institutions, according to report co-author Kathleen Skinner, director of MTA's Center for Education Policy and Practice.

"Essentially," she said, "what you have is, about 34 percent of the workforce is full-time, and yet they're required to do 100 percent of the academic advising."

Enrollment in community colleges is up, but state funding for public higher education is still about one-third less than it was 12 years ago. According to the report, community colleges should use a meaningful portion of the new funds allocated to them in the 2014 budget to hire more full-time faculty.

The unique needs of community college students should also be considered, Skinner said.

"Community colleges often have an incredibly diverse student population, many of whom are first-time college-goers in their families, so that they're relying upon the institution to provide them with the guidance necessary to successfully complete the program," she said.

The role of the schools has new significance, Skinner said.

"Lots of people want to go to community colleges," she said, "and, needless to say, nationwide, there's a lot of attention now on community colleges because they do offer a lot of first-time college-goers an opportunity to learn knowledge and skills that will help them get better employment."

The MTA wants the Special Commission on Higher Education Quality, Efficiencies and Finance, created in the fiscal 2014 budget, to look at the impact of less full-time faculty on students, and make recommendations to rectify it.

The full report is online at massteacher.org.


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