Hiring & Appointments: Sessionals

Sessional Lecturers Appointment Types

Sessional hiring practices are governed by Part 7: Conditions of Appointment for Sessional Lecturers. Sessional hiring happens in three stages according to the sessionals’ employment status at the University. There are three types of status: Continuing, Non-Continuing and Initial Appointment.

Continuing sessionals are long serving employees who have earned the right to a specific course load entitlement. Non-Continuing sessionals are existing employees who have yet to achieve continuing status. These members have the right to reappointment to 1 course per academic year (July 1st to June 30th). There is no ongoing right to specific courses for either type of sessional. Members in their initial or first appointment are new sessionals at UBC. If they are successful in their first assignment and are re-appointed they will earn the right of reappointment as non-continuing sessionals.

Sessional Lecturers Hiring Process

The process by which courses are distributed to sessional lecturer is as follows:

1. After course assignments have been given to tenure-track and tenured faculty members and Lecturers, your Department Head assigns courses to Continuing Sessionals to meet their individual course load entitlements.
2. Your Department Head then reviews the remaining courses and designates a pool of courses to be offered to non-continuing and new sessionals.
3. The courses in the “Sessional Pool” are then distributed to non-continuing sessionals such that each member is assigned to teach at least one course. Article 6, Part 7: Conditions of Appointment for Sessional Lecturers sets out the criteria by which these assignments are made.
4. Next, any remaining sessional courses must be posted publicly and assigned to sessionals with less than a full time load and to applicants according to a fair competitive process. Part 7: Conditions of Appointment for Sessional Lecturers specifies how courses and appointments are assigned, with qualifications, experience, and performance being the three primary factors which must be weighed. Length of service is considered when all else is equal.

Departments must advertise the requirements and procedures for hiring, most of which are governed by the rules of Part 7: Conditions of Appointment for Sessional Lecturers. Positions are generally for four or eight months, and may be either part-time or full-time. Appointments are generally 13 weeks in length, and begin on the first day of class each September, January, May, and July, ending after the last day of exams. Summer-teaching appointments are typically compressed courses which run 4 to 6 weeks between May and the beginning of August.

Reappointment

Sessional Lecturers have the presumptive right of reappointment to at least 1 course per academic year, so long as the following conditions are met:

1. Work is available;
2. The sessional formally signals that they wish to teach the course in question; and
3. They are qualified for the course in question and meet performance expectations.

Once a sessional achieves Continuing Status, they are entitled to a higher course load. See below for more details.

Assignment of Work

At UBC courses are assigned according to the following priority:

1. Tenure and tenure-track faculty
2. Lecturers
3. Continuing Sessionals
4. Non-continuing sessionals (at least one course)
5. Sessionals without full-time loads and new applicants

Between stages three and four, departments must determine what courses they are going to designate for sessionals and what courses they are going to designate for externals (i.e. adjuncts, post-doctoral fellows, seconded teachers). Courses in the sessional pool are given out such that every existing sessional receives at least 1 course. The Department can then assign the remaining courses either to existing sessionals or consider new applicants.

If a course becomes available after the initial round of assignments (which should normally occur in the Spring and Summer), then the Department must assign these courses to existing sessionals without a full-time load so long as those sessionals meet the three criteria set out above.

Performance Evaluation

Sessional lecturers should be evaluated regularly. Evaluations should assess your entire teaching performance and be based on command over the subject matter, familiarity with recent developments in the field, preparedness, presentation, accessibility to students and influence on the intellectual and scholarly development of students. They should not be based on popularity of the instructor. Open, consistent, and regular evaluation processes are vital to your reappointment and job security. If you would like an evaluation and none has yet been performed, enquire with your Department Head or administrator.

Non-Reappointment

Sessional lecturers who are not reappointed for reasons other than just cause maintain their length of service for 24 months. Those whose workload drops from above 50% to below 50% FTE are also entitled to maintain full benefits for 24 months. If a course is cancelled within a month of its planned start date, a sessional lecturer is entitled to $300.

Salary

Your annual appointment letter should set out both the percentage of full-time work you are being assigned and your salary. If you are being asked to do any work outside the contract period (exclusive of course preparation, which is an expected part of the contract), this should also be specified and compensation may be owing for these duties.

The Collective Agreement sets out a minimum salary scale for sessional lecturers. This is the floor for salaries, but not the ceiling. You are free to discuss your salary with your Head at the initial hire. Once your salary is set it will increase by the annual wage increases negotiated by the FA.

The minimum salary scale is based on the number of credits considered a full-time load in each Faculty. This is either 9 or 12 credits (see below for a detailed list). If you have any questions about how many credits you have been assigned, please contact the Faculty Association and one of our Labour Relations Officers will be happy to review your appointment.

Full-Time Load Standard: By Faculty

Payroll information passes through a number of offices: your department, the Dean’s office, the President’s office, payroll (Financial Services), in that order. If you need to track a problem with your documentation for any reason, remember to check with each step of the process. For problems with payroll, contact the Payroll Department.

Benefits

Sessionals with an appointment of at least 50% full time load and for at least 4 months are eligible for the following benefits:

Sessionals with an appointment of less than 50% or less than 4 months are eligible for the following:

If you wish to maintain your benefits between appointments (including the weeks between Winter and Summer session), you may do so at your own expense through Workday. must elect to do so through Workday. You should receive a prompt from Workday to indicate which, if any, benefits you wish to maintain prior to the end of your current contract if you do not have a new contract already in place. If you do not receive this prompt please contact your Department or UBC Benefits.

Medical

As of 1 January 202, the Province of British Columbia eliminated MSP premiums.

Extended Health benefits cover ambulance fees, out-of-province emergency care, mental health services, vision care, oral contraceptives, orthotics, hearing aids, massage/physiotherapy, acupuncture/chiropractic/speech pathologist services and much more. Your UBC health plan card (issued by Sunlife) provides at-the-counter deduction of the covered portion (typically 80%) of eligible prescription drugs. 

Dental

Coverage of services is as follows:

• Plan A (Basic): 100%
• Plan B (Major restorative): 70%
• Plan C (Orthodontics): 65% (to a lifetime maximum of $3000 per person)

Health Spending Account

All sessionals have access to an annual Health Spending Account, which can be used to cover health care costs not already covered by Extended Health benefits. Annual contributions to the HSA are:

• 2026: $400
• 2027: $600
• 2028: $600
• 2029: $800

Members may roll over their entitlement to a maximum of 2 years.

Employee and Family Assistance

A self-referred, confidential program for counseling and other services. EFAP is currently administered by Green Shield. More information can be found on the HR Employee and Family Assistance Program webpage. 

Life Insurance

Basic insurance is provided by the University; additional, optional, and self-paid life insurance is available through a group plan.

Tuition Waiver

Tuition waivers are available to sessionals with an appointment of 50% or higher, their spouses and their dependents, during the course of appointment.

Income Replacement Plan

Available to sessionals with contracts of 50% FTE and four months or more. Premiums paid 100% by employees. The IRP provides long-term disability benefits after paid medical leave is exhausted. More information can be found on the HR Income Replacement & Disability Benefits webpage.

Pension

Sessional Lecturers with an appointment of 50% FTE or greater can join the UBC Faculty Pension Plan, in which a 5% contribution by the member is matched with a 10% contribution by the University (less CPP contributions). You may back-date enrolment to the beginning of the current calendar year, provided you were a UBC employee at that time. You may also maintain enrolment between appointments by keeping up a minimum contribution. The pension is fully portable.

Professional Development Funds

Continuing Sessionals are entitled tot an annual PD reimbursement of:

• Prior to 2026: $1700
• Effective 1 July 2026: $3000
• Effective 1 July 2027: $3500
• Effective 1 July 2028: $4000

PD funds may be banked for up to five years. These funds may be used for books or other teaching materials, conference travel, computer supplies, research materials and any other expenses that enhance your ability, performance, or effectiveness at your work.

Non-Continuing Sessionals are entitled to the following annual PD reimbursement up to a maximum equivalent to the amounts for Continuing Sessionals:

• Prior to 2026: $100 per credit
• Effective 1 July 2026: $150 per credit
• Effective 1 July 2027: $200 per credit
• Effective 1 July 2028: $250 per credit

Any unused balance at the end of the year will be added to the entitlement for the next year to a maximum of five years.

Personal Spending Account

Effective 1 January 2029, each member of the bargaining unit will have access to an annual Personal Spending Account of $200. This money may be used for a range of services from covering the cost of non-work related courses, sporting equipment, childcare expenses and even deposited directly into your RRSP or TFSA. See Sunlife’s list of eligible expenses. 

Continuing Status

If you teach the equivalent of three-years (3) of full time service in a six-year (6) period, you are granted “continuing status” – which provides a greater degree of job security. This equates to accumulating either 81 credits or 108 credits within 6 years depending on the full-time load in your Faculty.

In calculating your eligibility, all credit courses within the bargaining unit (including evening and summer teaching) should be counted, regardless of the Faculyt or Department in which the teaching occurred. If you think you have or will soon achieve “continuing status,” contact Faculty Relations. or, if you’re at our Okanagan Campus, contact Human Resources.

Continuing Status entitles the faculty member to reappointment each year to at least the same course load and percentage of full-time as they worked in the two winter sessions of the year before earning continuing status. For example, if you taught 2 courses in the September term and 3 courses in the January term, your continuing entitlement would be to 5 courses over the academic year regardless of how many courses you taught in the summer session.

In addition to a more stable employment status, Continuing Sessionals also have additional rights and benefits. For example, Continuing Sessionals have higher professional development funds each year and have the right to be assigned courses at the same time and in the same process as their tenured and tenure-track colleagues in the Department. Continuing Sessionals whose appointments are not renewed due to cancellation or lack of funding are entitled to severance pay or recall rights – the choice belongs entirely to the sessional lecturer.

Applying for Other Appointments at UBC

There are two other teaching focused ranks at UBC: Lecturers and those within the Professor of Teaching stream. The latter are full-time tenure-track positions with duties of teaching, educational leadership and service. Lecturers are hired on one- to five-year contracts to teach and perform administrative service, such as course coordination.

All such full-time positions must be posted both internally and externally. You are welcome to apply for any such positions for which you are qualified. You may also encourage your Head to consider petitioning the Dean for more Lecturer positions in your department if lecturers are being hired year after year to perform core teaching duties, rather than just as temporary employees for sabbatical replacement, parental leave, and sick leaves.