UPDATED 2/10: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the group of professors as adjunct faculty. The meeting involved instructors, not adjunct professors. 
Twenty-five University faculty instructors met Saturday morning for a round-table discussion about how to improve their working conditions.
The group met in the Clemons Conference room of the Lod Cook Alumni Center moderated by Associate Vice Chancellor A.G. Monaco, and attended by Stuart Bell, University executive vice chancellor and provost.
Instructors are members of the University faculty, who often teach the same classes as assistants and associate professors. Instructors are not on track to become tenured professors, receive far less pay, have one year contracts and are not required to do research, said Jane Cassidy, vice provost for human resources and facilities management.
According to the LSU Office of Budget and Planning website, instructors earned an average of $42,933 for the 2012-13 school year.
Cassidy said the instructors at the University, on average, teach about 4 classes a semester, and while the last semester’s pay raises increased their salaries, the amount of money the instructors paid for their health care and other benefits also increased.
At the meeting, Cassidy said the group discussed and prioritized their concerns, the largest of which were their salaries and job security. Professors on track to becoming tenured have three-year contracts, she said, but some instructors have been at the University for more than 30 years and their jobs are still renewed annually.
“This is a national problem, not just LSU,” Cassidy said. “They said ‘We love what we do, we’re just not well paid.’”
Many of these professors have Ph.Ds and are committed to teaching, but feel underrecognized and undervalued because they don’t do research, Cassidy said.
Cassidy said that Stuart Bell heard concerns about the working conditions of the instructors and wanted to look into how to improve their jobs, so the group of 25 was put together with instructors from various fields to discuss what they would like to see change.
The instructors that met Saturday plan to split into subgroups to hold more meetings with administrators to develop solutions to their problems, Cassidy said, but increasing their salaries and extending their contracts will take longer to change.
“I think the tenure track faculty are looked upon as elite,” Cassidy said. “I think [instructors] feel like they’re looked down upon because they don’t do research.”