DAVE BREITENSTEIN

DBREITENSTEIN@NEWS-PRESS.COM

FGCU is budgeting for a 70/30 split between full-time faculty and adjuncts, a ratio that's in line with accrediting standards.

In past years, though, about 80 percent of instructors have been full-time faculty. The budgetary numbers have some professors worried about job security.

"No one is in jeopardy of losing their job because of 70/30," said Provost Ron Toll. "No one, no one, no one."

Still, faculty senate members have questioned whether the university intends to rely more on part-time instructors to teach undergraduate courses, a practice that saves on personnel costs and allows for last-minute course additions or deletions. It also raises questions about consistency as non-employees may not have extensive teaching experience or academic training.

Toll believes a miscommunication led some faculty to believe FGCU might hire a greater proportion of adjuncts.

"This is a predictive model we use for budgetary purposes, for planning," Toll said.

The 70/30 model is used for fall and spring terms, not summer.

Morgan Paine, an associate professor and art program leader, said adjunct professors will be allowed to teach this summer within the college of arts and sciences. In previous summer terms, only full-timers taught courses.

"Summer work clearly is not guaranteed by your nine- or 10-month contract," Paine said. "It's become a de facto opportunity for faculty to teach in the summer; it's rare that full-time faculty who wanted to teach have not been accommodated. This year, that's not the case."

Arts and sciences was the only college that had a prohibition on summer adjuncts, Paine said.

President Wilson Bradshaw said the 70/30 split gives departments an indication of money they can spend on salaries.

The cost of an adjunct is significantly lower than pay rates for full-timers.

FGCU pays faculty an average annual salary of $64,503, according to the U.S. Department of Education, for teaching four courses each semester. That equates to $8,063 per class, not including benefits and health insurance. The university pays adjuncts $2,750 per course and offers no benefits, but does not require adjuncts to complete research, publish scholarly articles or serve on campus committees.

While adjuncts are a less expensive alternative, sometimes a part-time teacher is the only individual locally qualified to teach a specialized course, according to Shawn Felton, an assistant professor of physical therapy.

FGCU's accrediting body, the Georgia-based Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, keeps tabs on the ratio of full-time to part-time instructors.

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Who's teaching?

Four of five classes at FGCU are taught by full-time faculty, even though the university budgets at a lower proportion. Below are data showing the percentage of credit hours taught by full-time faculty:

• 2012-13: 81 percent full-time

• 2011-12: 78 percent full-time

• 2010-11: 80 percent full-time

• 2009-10: 79 percent full-time

• 2008-09: 80 percent full-time