Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Part-time faculty eligibility requirements and SB 551 information

Part-time faculty benefits eligibility is based on instructional full-time equivalency (FTE). Each year during summer term, the College looks back at the previous academic year to determine eligibility. The total instructional FTE for the academic year (four terms) must be at least 1.5 FTE, cumulatively. Schedules and loads may vary from one term to another, but part-time faculty members who meet eligibility requirements will be eligible for benefits the following academic year, provided they are scheduled to teach. The benefit year runs from October 1 – September 30.

If you are eligible for part-time faculty benefits, you will receive an Open Enrollment mailing in early August. You must complete online enrollment in MyOEBB. If you are unsure of your FTE, please check with your department.

In addition to qualifying for health insurance benefits under the PCC faculty and academic professional collective bargaining agreement, part-time faculty may qualify for a medical insurance subsidy under SB 551.

In the 2021 legislative session, Oregon Senate Bill 551 was passed to expand healthcare to part-time faculty. Eligible part-time faculty can purchase individual medical, vision, and dental benefits with a 90% subsidy. If you qualify for SB 551 and cover yourself only, submit the enclosed part-time faculty declaration of home institution and attestation of eligibility for benefits coverage to sb551ptfaculty@pcc.edu.

To be eligible you must:

  1. Be actively working for PCC in the term for which you are applying; and
  2. Designate PCC as your home institution on the part-time faculty Declaration of Home Institution and Attestation of Eligibility form (enclosed) by October 22, 2023, and
  3. Have worked an average equal to at least 0.3 (30%) of a full-time equivalent faculty employee over the 2022-2023 academic year at one or more Oregon public higher education institutions, cumulatively (for Fall 2023, the terms considered are Summer 2022, Spring 2023, Winter 2023, and Fall 2022); and
  4. Submit the SB 551 enrollment form by October 22, 2023.

In some cases, the Cap provided under the PCC collective bargaining agreement will be more beneficial for those who qualify, but often the SB 551 subsidy will be more beneficial. See the part-time faculty cost sheet or SB 551 cost sheet for more detail. Submit the part-time faculty declaration of home institution and attestation of eligibility for benefits coverage to sb551ptfaculty@pcc.edu by October 22, 2023, if you believe you are eligible for the SB 551 subsidy.

Payment instructions

If you enroll in benefits as a part-time faculty member, the employee portion of your premiums will be deducted from your bi-weekly paychecks before taxes. Some pay periods you may not get paid, because of a break between terms or not working an entire term. See the part-time faculty payment instructions for an explanation of what you need to do to keep your insurance if you are in unpaid status.

View the summary of benefits for part-time faculty.