Adjunct Faculty Eligibility
Adjunct faculty play a vital role in supporting Higher Education Reporting Employers (REs), but understanding their TRS eligibility can be complex. This article provides an overview of how TRS defines adjunct instructors and the TRS membership eligibility requirements to help REs report accurately.
TRS Adjunct Definition
TRS defines adjunct instructors as employees hired to work on a semester-by-semester basis; compensated on a per class basis; and duties include instruction of students.
Eligibility with TRS
Employment as an adjunct instructor is TRS membership eligible if the number of clock hours worked is 20 hours or more per week and the employment is expected to last more than one semester or does continue for more than one semester.
TRS requires REs to report eligible and ineligible employee contracts based on the dates the employee will perform the work, not the payment dates. For adjunct instructors, contract dates normally align when classes are in session and based on the school’s semester dates since adjuncts are hired to work on a semester-by-semester basis.
Accurate TRS eligibility reporting is important because errors can affect multiple REs under concurrent employment eligibility rules. When eligibility isn’t reviewed, outdated information can lead to a chain of reporting errors. Once these errors are found, all REs involved may need to submit corrections and refund or collect contributions, which can be difficult if the employee has terminated or closed their TRS account. To help prevent issues, REs are advised to review employment information with employees who may work for multiple REs, since the employee is often the best source of current information. The View Employee Information User Guide is another resource available for REs.
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | TRS-Eligibility Determination |
|---|---|---|
| Less than one‑half time (less than 20 hours per week) | One‑half time or more (20 or more hours per week) | Employment becomes TRS‑eligible in the spring semester because employment is now 20 or more hours per week and has continued for more than one semester. |
| One‑half time or more | Less than one‑half time | Employment is TRS eligible in the fall because the employment is originally expected to continue for more than one semester at 20 or more hours per week. Employment is not TRS eligible in the spring because the hours fall below halftime. If employment resumes half time or more in the summer semester, it will be TRS eligible again. |
One‑half time or more | Expected to return (course load can be unknown) | TRS‑eligible employment begins with the fall semester because the employment is 20 or more hours per week and is expected to continue for more than one semester. |
| One‑half time or more | Not expected to return | This is a type of temporary employment and is not TRS eligible. |
| One‑half time or more, but classes do not make (classes are cancelled due to low enrollment) | — | In any semester, if the classes dropped change the employee’s TRS eligibility, and the employee has already been reported to TRS, then corrections to the report must be made. |
Re-Evaluating Eligibility
Accurately reporting TRS membership eligibility for all employees is important due to concurrent employment rules affecting multiple employers. If an RE continues to report an individual to hold an eligible position because they have not reevaluated eligibility, this may cause a trickle-down effect of adjustments for multiple employers as they continue to report based on incorrect information or made assumptions from previous reported information.
For example, an adjunct instructor concludes all their work for the fall semester in December, but their contract end date was reported through the end of the school year (Aug. 31). This may cause validation errors for other employers, showing the individual earned a year of service with TRS when they actually worked less than 90 days in an eligible position. Other employers continue to report employment as TRS-eligible incorrectly.
Once the error is discovered, all employers may need to submit adjustments and refund contributions. This process is more cumbersome if the individual has terminated employment and/or taken a refund, closing their TRS account. Remember, your employees are the best source of concurrent employment information! If you know that an employee is regularly concurrently employed, please consider reaching out to those individuals to see if they are still employed elsewhere in a TRS-eligible position.
If you have any questions about reporting adjunct instructors or whether an individual holds eligible concurrent employment, please contact your TRS coach.