Adjunct professors are preparing to terminate their contract and work with the university to create a new one.

This process can take months and can be difficult for the professors. They rely on contracts with the university for pay and health benefits, but often, the pay is not great, benefits are hard to obtain, and they can be let go between semesters at any time.

Adjunct professors are vital at Suffolk. They teach many courses in departments across campus. They devote time to students even when their pay is low and job security is unstable.

Suffolk should honor the time and devotion these professors put into this university. When constructing a new contract, adjunct professors should be given better job security. The amount of courses they must teach to obtain health benefits should be reduced. Though they say their pay is decent now, the university should honor the professors’ commitment to students with a better salary in the next contract.

Without adjunct professors, the university would have fewer courses, and the quality of education here would falter.

Though financial conversations are never easy, Suffolk should devote the time and effort to discuss contract negotiations civilly with the adjunct union and offer them the best job package possible. While this may entail moving around funds to pay the professors at a higher rate, these professors deserve it.

There is also the possibility that with a better contract for adjuncts, more professors will be interested in teaching at Suffolk.

And then there is the possibility that without a good contract, some of the university’s best professors could leave.

Everyone benefits from a solid contract for adjunct professors. Hopefully the administration will see the advantages of this and construct a new, improved contract.