A number of Austin Com-munity College employees filed for health benefits Aug. 22 only to find out two days later they were not eligible.
The confusion arose when the original announcement from the associate vice president of human resources claimed that all adjunct, or part-time, professors classified as an MSTA III may enroll for health benefits. Faculty classified as MSTA III are considered part-time employees who teach three classes per week each semester.
However, the announcement failed to mention that the employee also had to work additional hours as an instructional associate or college associate to qualify.
The misleading announcement resulted in 40 people enrolling for insurance for which they were not eligible and another 70 people hoping to sign up last week, a fact Cile Spelce, ACC spokesperson, says the college regrets. But most of them, those who work 20 to 39 hours per week, will still get half of their health insurance paid, Spelce said. She said it was a simple misunderstanding.
"Somebody said a blanket statement that caused people to believe all adjuncts would get the benefits," Spelce said. "It would be against the law for anyone who works under 40 hours to get benefits."
But some ACC adjuncts, along with the members of the Texas Faculty Association, said they will file a grievance against ACC by the end of this week. Charles Zucker, TFA executive director, claims all MSTA IIIs should receive benefits.
"They are part-time faculty with heavy teaching loads," Zucker said. "As opposed to a casual adjunct, MSTA IIIs teach on average as much as a UT professor."
Becky Villarreal, Adjunct Faculty Association benefits chair, backs the grievance and said she felt betrayed by ACC.
"It was just a big disappointment when ACC made this announcement," Villarreal said. "We thought it was a done deal. It's overwhelming to be told you'd get benefits and then get them snatched away."
Villarreal said she was particularly disturbed by the statement from ACC that simply claimed it was illegal to give benefits to all MSTA IIIs.
"If they're going to say it's illegal, they need to say why," she said.
ACC employs 120 MSTA IIIs, and only 40 of them are eligible for full health benefits, Spelce said. Of those eligible, only six have accepted the insurance, and only two have enrolled, she said.
"We as a college are doing what we can do by law, and we are trying to best serve our employees," she said. "But the numbers seem to indicate what we assume, that most part-time employees either use insurance from other jobs, or chose to pay for insurance themselves."
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