Monthly Archives: March 2014

April 2014

 

The Advocate – 37.5
April 2014
 (pdf)

In this issue:

 

CFT releases statewide study ranking adjunct pay rates

SMCCCD is ranked between 12th & 20th, depending on which salary step is compared. 
Click here to see the full study.

In the News: Aug13 – Feb14

News articles related to community college faculty issues and SMCCCD, selected from around the county, state and nation and updated regularly.  To receive these articles by email, send a request to be added to the AFT 1493 email list to Dan Kaplan at: kaplan@aft1493.org.

February 7, 2014— 3 new CCSF administrators earn more than approved pay rate (San Francisco Chronicle)

February 5, 2014— Administrator Hiring Drove 28% Boom in Higher-Ed Work Force, Report Says (Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 3, 2014— Long Beach City College experiments with tiered pricing (Los Angeles Times)

February 3, 2014— Adjuncts Gain Traction With Congressional Attention (Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 2, 2014— California community colleges could offer bachelor’s degrees (San Francisco Chronicle)

January 31, 2014— What makes a good college? (Los Angeles Times)

January 26, 2014— Critics call for more oversight of California accreditation panel (Los Angeles Times)


January 24, 2014— An ‘Alarming Snapshot’ of Adjunct Labor (Chronicle of Higher Education)

January 24, 2014— Troubled CCSF backs off big administrator raises (Los Angeles Times)

January 22, 2014— California’s higher education leaders pledge more cooperation (Los Angeles Times)

January 15, 2014— College of San Mateo garden demolition plan gets hearing (San Francisco Chronicle)

January 13, 2014— College students must soon meet academic standards to get fee waiver (Los Angeles Times)

January 13, 2014— Overuse and Abuse of Adjunct Faculty Members Threaten Core Academic Values (Chronicle of Higher Education)

January 8, 2014— State budget: Gov. Jerry Brown proposes paying down wall of debt, continues calls for restraint (San Jose Mercury News)

January 2, 2014— Judge blocks CCSF accreditation revocation (San Francisco Chronicle)

December 16, 2013— Reprieve for California Accreditor (Inside Higher Ed)

December 13, 2013— Accreditation Agita (Update: Accreditor Extended) (Inside Higer Ed)

December 5, 2013— Blacks have lowest college graduation rate in state (San Francisco Chronicle)

December 2, 2013— The Great Stratification (Chronicle of Higher Education)

November 25, 2013— SF seeks injunction to stop CCSF closure (San Francisco Chronicle)

November 20, 2013— MOOCs Are Largely Reaching Privileged Learners, Survey Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)

November 18, 2013— Angered by MOOC Deals, San Jose State Faculty Senate Considers Rebuff (Chronicle of Higher Education)

November 9, 2013— Calif.’s low community college fees face scrutiny (San Jose Mercury-News)

November 8, 2013— College district to seek review of accreditation agency (San Mateo Daily Journal)

November 7, 2013— Speier, Eshoo enter City College fray (San Francisco Chronicle)

November 6, 2013— Mohr tops vote for community college district (San Mateo Daily Journal)

October 30, 2013— Accreditation Mafia is Under Serious Challenge (BeyondChron)

October 15, 2013— Community college accreditation commission under scrutiny again (Los Angeles Times)

October 15, 2013— Traditional Education Beats Online in Key Areas, Opinion Poll Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)

October 10, 2013— Brown OKs higher fees for high-demand community college classes (Los Angeles Times)

October 7, 2013— College accrediting panel chief draws scrutiny (San Francisco Chronicle)

October 1, 2013— Court stops demo of CSM horticulture building (San Mateo Daily Journal)

September 25, 2013— Adjunct professors are the new working poor (CNN)

September 24, 2013— City College faculty union sues accrediting group (San Francisco Chronicle)

September 19, 2013— Employers and Community-College Students Aren’t Sold on Online Degrees, Survey Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)

September 17, 2013— Lawmakers resolve community college funding (Capitol Weekly)

September 13, 2013— Fees for some summer, winter community college courses could triple under bill on governor’s desk (EdSource)

September 11, 2013— Prop. 30 helps up enrollment at community colleges (San Francisco Chronicle)

September 9, 2013— Ad­juncts Are Bet­ter Teachers Than Tenured Professors, Study Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)

September 5, 2013— Four in the running for San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees (San Mateo Daily Journal)

September/October, 2013— America’s Worst Community Colleges (Washington Monthly)

August 23, 2013— Higher education leaders respond to Obama’s ambitous ratings system plan (Inside HigerEd)

August 22, 2013— President Obama proposes to link student aid to new ratings of colleges (Inside HigerEd)

August 22, 2013— San Francisco files suit to keep CCSF open (San Francisco Chronicle)

August 21, 2013— San Francisco Students Sit In to Save Beloved Community College (Labor Notes)

August 20, 2013— Why is Agrella defending ACCJC instead of CCSF? (BeyondChron)

August 17, 2013— Master’s Degree Is New Frontier of Study Online (New York Times)

August 14, 2013— Unions demand that CCSF sanctions be lifted (San Francisco Chronicle)

August 13, 2013— Department of Education Warns Accreditor That Sanctioned City College of San Francisco (Chronicle of Higher Education)

August 5, 2013— Faculty of Color at Community Colleges Marginalized (UCR Today)

April 2014 – DART planning two events


Retirees

DART planning two events for retirees & faculty


by John Searle, DART President

The District Association of Retired Teachers (commonly referred to as DART) is planning two events for the coming six months. We invite current faculty as well as retired faculty to join us for these events.

The first is a hike in the Peninsula Watershed area, which has limited access controlled by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The scheduled time is for a Saturday, June 28. We are in the process of planning the details, but the routine requires that participants sign up ahead of time, providing their name and address. If you are interested, please contact John Searle by phone (650-595-4426) or by email (Searle@my.smccd.edu). The maximum number of participants is 20! Personally, I think this activity is very special, and we are lucky to have the privilege of accessing the off-limits area.

The second planned event is a sort of get-together with food and booze (sorry, liquid refreshments) provided, focusing on sharing our retirement experiences with each other, hoping to stimulate conversation, and maybe challenging one another for the coming year. A tentative date is September 21.

April 2014 Advocate – Letter to the Advocate


LETTER TO THE ADVOCATE

Appreciating the information on unemployment benefits

Thank you for the ongoing helpful information you share with the CSM faculty, particularly the Adjunct community, who may not be included in all messages/events.

I am in my 6th year as an Adjunct at CSM and after I saw your note about filing for unemployment insurance (I think it was late Fall) I filed and received a small payment. Fortunately, I was rehired for the Spring semester, but the EDD check was a nice closure to the year.     

FYI, initially EDD delayed my claim, asked for a phone interview, and when I mentioned the Cervisi decision you had outlined in your message, and the term “adjunct”, they quickly agreed to the claim.

Thank you for sharing the email information that allowed me to pull this all together. Just a thought…might you consider putting a copy of the Cervisi article in the college’s new hire packet for adjuncts so they understand their options from day one?  Just a thought.

Again, thank you for your time and effort!  Have a great 2014! 

Best, 

Cynthia Erickson, Adjunct Faculty
College of San Mateo
Business and Technology Division