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ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION 402
Introduced by Quick, 35.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this resolution is to propose an interim study to
examine compensation for laboratory hours taught at a community college and to
review the statutory definition of laboratory hours. Nebraska's community
colleges designate certain courses as laboratories, and the existing
definitions in section 85-1503 of credit hour, laboratory hour, and contact
hour have a significant impact on faculty and staff compensation. These
definitions establish the ratios of contact to laboratory hours required to
generate one credit hour, which in turn affect workload assignments, overload
and adjunct pay, and equity in compensation for comparable instructional
effort. The study will examine these definitions and practices and explore
statutory or policy alignments to ensure fair and equitable compensation for
community college faculty and staff while preserving educational quality and
institutional flexibility.
The study shall include, but not be limited to, an examination of the
following:
(1) Current compensation structures, workload policies, and pay practices
for faculty and staff teaching laboratory hours versus lecture or classroom
hours at community colleges, including how institutional policies interpret or
apply the credit-to-contact ratios defined in subdivision (6) of section
85-1503;
(2) The statutory definitions in section 85-1503, including the
definitions of contact hour, credit hour, and laboratory hour;
(3) How institutions designate courses as laboratories and the resulting
effects on faculty workload calculations, overload pay, adjunct compensation,
benefits eligibility, and overall equity in pay for comparable effort,
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particularly due to the higher contact-hour-to-credit hour ratios for
laboratory instruction under subdivisions (6)(b) and (c) of section 85-1503;
(4) Comparative data from peer institutions in surrounding states and
national best practices regarding the valuation of laboratory instruction in
faculty compensation and workload, including alignments with federal credit-
hour standards under 34 C.F.R. section 600.2;
(5) Input from faculty senates, collective bargaining units,
administrators, students, the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary
Education, and other stakeholders on the fairness, transparency, and
sustainability of current definitions and practices under section 85-1503 and
related institutional policies; and
(6) Potential statutory, regulatory, or policy recommendations to better
align the definition and treatment of laboratory hours with actual
instructional effort and to promote fair compensation without unintended
impacts on tuition, the community college aid formula, or program viability.
In conducting this interim study, the Education Committee of the
Legislature may confer with the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary
Education, Community College Boards of Governors, community college
administrations, faculty organizations and representatives, individual faculty
and staff members, students, policy experts, and any other relevant entities or
stakeholders.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE HUNDRED NINTH
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, SECOND SESSION:
1. That the Education Committee of the Legislature shall be designated to
conduct an interim study to carry out the purposes of this resolution.
2. That the committee shall upon the conclusion of its study make a report
of its findings, together with its recommendations, to the Legislative Council
or Legislature.
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