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New Mexico lawmakers are consistently asked to pass legislation to improve pay and benefits for contract faculty at higher-ed institutions but meaningful progress has been limited.

Like those in many other states, New Mexico's universities and colleges hire a significant number of adjunct, or contract professors who are part-time, non-tenure-track faculty. Most work semester-by-semester and do not qualify for benefits.

Satya Witt, principal lecturer of biology at the University of New Mexico, who leads contract negotiations at the university for the American Federation of Teachers, said the situation must change.

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"Many of them would like to work full-time at their higher-ed institution but some of our adjuncts here, they've been waiting for decades, literally decades, and they're just being taken advantage of," Witt contended.

Since 2001, Witt noted lawmakers have introduced measures calling for studies, accountability reports and even multimillion-dollar appropriations to move toward equal pay and benefits for adjuncts. But while some efforts passed, such as the requirement for annual reports from higher-education institutions, many died before becoming law.

Neusa McWilliams, an adjunct faculty member in geography at the University of New Mexico, said being employed as an adjunct can work for some people but the university's Basic Needs Project found many of the instructors face food and/or housing insecurity, creating long-term consequences for the state and local economy.

"When you're young, you can make it work, you can get second jobs and stuff," McWilliams observed. "But as you get older that becomes a lot harder and that's where you really start increasing your reliance on social programs."

Enrollment at New Mexico's higher-ed institutions has increased since the Opportunity Scholarship was introduced in 2022, providing tuition-free college education for state residents. According to Witt, it means there is not enough full-time faculty for the workload, leading to a greater reliance on part-timers. She stressed better data on the problem needs to be collected consistently.

"Then these data need to be used by the Legislature to develop and fund a plan to get pay and benefits for faculty at more equitable and appropriate levels," McWilliams urged. "And big, big, big picture, the state just needs to be investing more in higher ed."

Witt added New Mexico is losing highly qualified faculty every year, many of whom leave higher education altogether to teach in public schools in order to earn a living wage.