One impact: As the Winston-salem Journal reports, fewer hours (classes) per adjunct as colleges and universities cut back on their teaching load to avoid having to provide health insurance. Trust me, this will definitely impact the way some places operate. In fact, it already has:
“It is often difficult to find qualified adjuncts,” Wilkes Community College said in a statement. “This varies, depending upon the program or discipline area. The Affordable Care Act has exacerbated this to an extent, especially for hard-to-find instructors for computer courses, technical and health areas.”
As a result, the college is canceling some courses at a time of increasing demand for skills training by job-seekers, and also at a time when more people are depending on part-time jobs for a portion, or all, of their individual or family income.
Wilkes Community College said that the part-time hours requirement also is affecting areas “that rely heavily upon part-time employees, including continuing education, basic skills, academic support centers and student services.”
“The college is hopeful that instructors who used to teach several courses for one community college will begin to make themselves known to others so that the colleges can have access to additional qualified adjuncts, and the adjunct instructors can teach for several colleges,” Wilkes officials said in the statement.
Good luck with that.
