SALISBURY, Md.- Teachers at Wor-Wic Community College say they’ve had enough. Members of the Wor-Wic Community College Faculty Association gathered Thursday to demand fair treatment, accusing the college administration of ignoring contract negotiations.
Outside the Maner Technology Center, association members handed out pamphlets outlining their concerns and presented data from a financial analysis showing how the college has shortchanged its faculty. The group later attended the public portion of the Board of Trustees meeting.
“A take-it-or-leave-it negotiation tactic does a disservice to both the faculty and the board,” said Tamara Robinson, managing director at the Maryland State Education Association, which is affiliated with the association.
The group said it had proposed a 7 percent salary increase to match inflation, a transparent pay scale, equitable teaching loads, and better course release time. But in a final bargaining session on June 9, administrators offered a counterproposal of just 2–4 percent raises, continued use of compressed salary zones, and only minor changes to stipends and overload pay.
Faculty say the gap between administrative and teaching salaries is growing wider. According to the association's budget analysis, administrative staff pay rose 30 percent in the last five years, while full-time faculty salaries remained stagnant. Between the FY2024 and FY2025 budgets alone, administrative salaries increased by nearly $1 million.
“Teachers who have been here for over a decade are still being paid below market value,” said Pamela Jones, an associate professor of developmental mathematics. She says this, meanwhile the school "wants to keep rolling unused funds over, year after year, for new sports initiatives.“
The association's budget analysis claims the college rolls over an estimated $775,000 in unused funds each year. Former association President Alketa Nina said, “That money is for instructional costs that were budgeted and funded by the county that has just gone unspent." Nina claims, “Those funds then roll into discretionary funds that can be used for whatever projects the college administration wants.”
Faculty continue to push for a deal that could strengthen the college and support the people who make education happen.