Monthly Archives: May 2020

OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR PAY PARITY FOR SMCCCD PART-TIME FACULTY

AFT’s member-driven campaign for our Part-Time Pay Parity Petition was a tremendous success! In just under two weeks, 640 faculty members and supporters signed the petition! AFT members reached out to their colleagues across the district, as well as to education unions, the San Mateo Labor Council, community activists, students and friends of community colleges. We couldn’t have gotten so many signers in such a short time without all of you pitching in!

At the May 13th Board meeting we presented the petition to the Trustees and the Chancellor.  AFT Executive Secretary, Paul Bissember, introduced our AFT presenters, Tim Rottenberg and Annie Corbett, part-time faculty and Contract Action Team team members, who each spoke briefly and eloquently. Tim talked about the motivation to create the petition, and Annie read a few poignant comments from part-time faculty members who attended our Virtual Rally on May Day. The petition was emailed to all of our Board members and Chancellor Claire.

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In response to a 2000/2001 mandate, all California Community College districts were asked to determine through the collective bargaining process the definitions, policies and amounts needed to achieve pay parity between part-time and full-time faculty – and almost all districts state-wide except SMCCCD have defined part-time pay parity;

Part-time faculty compose ~70% of the instructional faculty within the SMCCCD and part-time faculty are an essential part of the SMCCCD’s mission and vision, whose well-being is essential to the success of the District as a whole;

Current SMCCCD parity is on average ~60-70% of full-time faculty and SMCCCD part-time instructors are paid significantly less in relation to full-time faculty than their Bay 10 counterparts, and each of our neighboring districts have established part-time faculty pay parity goals, including:

Faculty members of SMCCCD strongly support our union’s proposal to the District to define part-time pay parity in the new contract and to establish parity at 85%.  It is time for our District to follow the 10-year old state mandate to provide equitable compensation to part-time faculty.

May 2020

View full May 2020 issue (pdf)

In this issue:

May 2020 Advocate: Face-to-face teaching must remain the core of higher ed.

ONLINE EDUCATION

Face-to-face teaching must remain the core of higher ed.

by Rika Yonemura-Fabian, Skyline AFT Chapter Co-Chair

The sudden switch we all made in March to remote education has turned the entire District inside out.  Just a few months ago, about 80% of our classes were taught face to face.  In this new-to-most-of-us online environment, we’ve been focusing on the question in front of us: “Are students learning?” Yet we also need to consider how this might forever alter the teacher-learner relationship that is the bleeding heart of education. How will this emphasis on online education erode faculty autonomy and discipline expertise, both of which are necessary to ensure we don’t become degree mills?

One Skyline faculty member recently articulated his concerns in an email correspondence:

One of the concerns is faculty will face additional pressure to convert more of our face-to-face courses to fully online.  First, the fact that all courses at all campuses are now being taught online might be taken as “proof” of effectiveness even if faculty doubt that online courses can ever match classroom experience, no matter how “good” the technology is.  Second, face-to-face sections will not be able to compete with online sections offered by other campuses if these now become widespread.  Third, if they do become widespread, the College itself will lose enrollments and courses unless it adapts to the trend.

Faculty have repeatedly observed that Deans suggest converting a course online when the enrollment is low. A recent strong push for fully online degrees at Skyline College (“Skyline NOW”) seems to show that this is part of a greater theme: Online classes increase “efficiency.” We don’t accept the premise, but even if it is true, we reject the notion that efficiency is the goal of education. We respectfully submit that learning is our purpose.

The Skyline faculty member’s analysis of the current crisis extends to an examination of the identity of higher education and educators. He has experience with Canvas and is comfortable using it for his classes. He finds it to be a well-designed and useful tool, and definitely a big improvement from WebAccess.  But that’s all it is, he emphasizes: A tool. The technical and design aspects of migrating course materials onto a learning management system is not the same as teaching the materials– a distinction that administrators, who are not working directly with students, seem oblivious to. Knowing how to utilize a tool is only one of many elements that makes good craftsmanship. However, what provides her/his expertise is not the tool itself, but the human being. All the training on how to use an LMS has been helpful to manage the emergencies, but we need to talk about how to better apply our accumulated expertise in teaching, classroom facilitation and all the emotional work we do with students to the technological tools.

What we hear in the concerned faculty member’s email is a manifestation of what some of us believe should be our unified message to the administration and those who are running the system. Face-to-face teaching by a subject expert should remain the irreplaceable core of higher education. Watching videos, going to chat rooms, listening to recorded audio, etc. can be useful supplements, but are not a substitute. And students have the right to quality, human interactions as the medium of learning. This is what contextualizes knowledge for students: meaningful relationships with the teacher and with their peers. Distance Education has its place—but as a supporting role.

 

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

All part-time faculty should remember that you are eligible for unemployment compensation benefits over the summer and during the winter break, unless you are working another job over the summer or between semesters and you are earning more than your unemployment grant would be. During the pandemic, the Federal CARES Act brings additional benefits.

READ UPDATED INFORMATION FROM THE CFT ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT AND OTHER CARES ACT BENEFITS.

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As soon as you give your last final exam, you should contact the Employment Development Department (EDD) and file a claim, or reactivate the one you have from winter break (if you applied then). If it is a new claim, you will have a one-week waiting period before benefits start, so do not delay. You can also claim for the period between regular term and summer school. When filling out your weekly forms, don’t forget to claim paid flex days.

When applying, tell them about all your jobs, since your benefit is based on all your income over the previous year. When they ask if you have a job to go back to after summer or winter break, answer: “Not with reasonable assurance. I only have a tentative assignment contingent on enrollment, funding and program needs.”

This is important: Do not just tell them that you have an assignment for next semester or you will be disqualified. According to the Cervisi decision of the State Court of Appeals (and the Ed. Code), part-timers, as a class, do not have “reasonable assurance” of a job and hence are eligible for benefits between terms. If questioned further, mention the Cervisi case.

Be sure to fill out all job search forms correctly, and appear as directed in person or by phone or mail. You should not have any problems, but if you are denied for any reason, contact Paul Bissember in the AFT office (bissember@aft1493.org) as soon as possible and the union will advise you on how to file an appeal. Don’t be reluctant to file. This is your right, not charity!