Adjunct Faculty

How enrollment declines have impacted part-time faculty in our district

by Eric Brenner, Advocate Editor

Reflecting the trend of community colleges throughout the state (see references below), SMCCCD enrollment has experienced major declines since the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated enrollment reductions that had been trending downward for a number of years before Covid.  From Fall 2016 to Fall 2021 the number of full-time equivalent students (FTES) in our three colleges dropped by about 30% (from 8159 to 5734), including a loss of more than 12% in just the last year. (see chart) Fortunately, since SMCCCD (as a “community-funded” district) is funded primarily from county property tax revenues, reduced enrollment does not have a significant impact on the district’s budget. While the number of course sections throughout the district has not declined as rapidly as enrollment figures (a 9.8% reduction from 2196 sections in Fall 2016 to 1981 in Fall 2021, see chart) the ongoing reductions in sections have nevertheless directly impacted adjunct faculty assignments. The number of part-time faculty teaching in the district has declined 5.7% from 542 in Fall 2016 to 511 in Fall 2021.**

Productivity & efficiency data above courtesy of of Office of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness (PRIE), Skyline College. Special thanks to Zahra Mojtahedi, Senior Planning and Research Analyst

SMCCCD Faculty Headcount: Fall 2016 – Fall 2021

* Note: The above faculty headcount figures from Fall 2016 through 2020 are from the state CCCCO Data Mart. The Fall 2021 figures are from SMCCCD HR Department.

The union has encouraged administrators to try to maintain the number of sections in order to provide the most options for students and thereby help prevent even greater enrollment losses. During the pandemic, smaller in-person classes also reduce the danger of spreading the virus and smaller student-teacher ratios provide greater opportunities for faculty to support individual students’ needs, especially as those needs have increased dramatically with all of the Covid-related impacts.  In response, the district has agreed to allow a lower minimum number of students per section. The Spring 2022 MOU will continue to include the agreement that “All classes, whether online or in-person, will not be canceled so long as they achieve a minimum enrollment of 10 students.”

AFT 1493 wants to see the impacts on adjuncts minimized as much as possible. The following additional language, which is in the Fall 2021 MOU and has been proposed by AFT to be continued in the Spring 2022 MOU, provides some more protections for part-time faculty:

• “If a part-time faculty’s load falls below 40% due to the cancellation of a class, the part-time faculty member will qualify for half the medical stipend reimbursement.”
• “Not teaching in Fall 2021 does not affect a part-timers position in the seniority list.”

In negotiations for the Spring 2022 MOU, the AFT has also proposed that:

• “Part-time faculty who are assigned a course and then have it canceled will be compensated 15 hours at the special rate per course for time spent preparing.”

Adjunct faculty members who have questions or concerns about assignments, benefits or any other issues related to their working conditions should contact an AFT 1493 representative:

• Timothy Rottenberg, AFT 1493 Skyline College Part-Timer Rep.
• Joshua Avera, AFT 1493 CSM Part-Timer Rep.
• Other AFT 1493 campus reps.

References to articles on California community colleges enrollment declines since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic:

Nov. 12, 2021 — Dramatic enrollment drop won’t cost California community colleges state aid but could impact adjunct faculty (EdSource)

Nov. 4, 2021 — California community college enrollment drops below 2 million students, more than previously reported (EdSource)

Oct. 25, 2021 — Community college enrollment drops worry campus leaders (Inside Higher Ed)

March 19, 2021 — Enrollment declines at California’s community colleges far greater than earlier predictions (EdSource)

December 17, 2020 — ‘Losing A Generation’: Fall College Enrollment Plummets For 1st-Year Students (NPR)

December 10, 2020 — Community colleges hardest hit as college enrollment among high school graduates falls nationally amid the pandemic (EdSource)

Report on negotiations on MOU regarding Spring 2022 working conditions

Monday, November 15

On November 15, AFT and the District began negotiations for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governing working conditions in Spring 2022, when the District has planned a full return to on-campus instruction and student services. In addition to being our first negotiating session for the Spring 2022 MOU, Monday was also AFT’s first time negotiating with the District’s Interim Chief Human Resources Officer Marie Billie.

AFT’s negotiations team included Joaquin Rivera, Monica Malamud and Marianne Kaletzky, while the District’s negotiators were Marie Billie, Mitch Bailey, David Feune, Aaron McVean, Joe Morello, Charlene Frontiera, and Max Hartman.

In advance of the November 15th negotiations session, AFT had submitted a full proposal for the Spring 2022 MOU that contained provisions including those below. The District responded to some provisions by the end of the November 15th session and indicated that, for other provisions, they would have a response ready by our next negotiation session on November 17th.

AFT’s opening proposal included:

• Leaves:
  • Faculty will have access to the same family leave options that they had during Spring and Fall 2020.
  • Faculty who are scheduled to work on campus and have Covid symptoms, need to quarantine, need to care for a household member who contracts Covid, or need to care for a child who cannot attend school due to Covid-related reasons may either pivot to online delivery or take sick leave, at their discretion. Under AFT’s proposal, faculty who elect to take sick leave in these situations would not draw from their accrued sick days.
  • Faculty scheduled to teach online who contract Covid may take sick leave without drawing from accrued sick days.
  • Faculty who need to care for a household member who contracts Covid or a child who cannot attend school due to Covid-related reasons may draw from their sick days, as AFT’s multi-year contract already allows. If faculty in these situations do not have sufficient sick leave to cover the days they are absent, they may draw on a pool of sick days donated by other faculty.

• Counseling:
  • Counselors may be required to work a maximum of 25% of their hours in person. No full-time counselor shall be required to work in person more than 2 days per week and no part-time counselor shall be required to work in person more than 1 day per week.

• Instructional provisions:
  • Class size maximums adjusted during the pandemic will continue for Spring 2022.
  • All classes, whether online or in-person, will not be canceled so long as they achieve an enrollment of 10 students.
  • Part-time faculty who are assigned a course and then have it canceled will be compensated 15 hours at the special rate per course for time spent preparing.

• Professional duties:
  • Full-time faculty will not be expected to perform more than 2 high-volume/high-demand professional duties.
  • Professional duties may be performed in-person or remotely, at the faculty member’s discretion.
  • The backlog of evaluations for tenured faculty and continuing adjuncts will be handled as follows: faculty who were scheduled to be evaluated in Spring 2020, and were not evaluated that semester, will be evaluated in Spring 2022. Faculty scheduled to be evaluated in Spring 2021 will be evaluated in Spring 2023, and so on.

• Health and safety:
  • The District will continue universal masking in all indoor spaces until both of the following conditions are met:
    • 1) San Mateo County achieves a rate of transmission in the “Moderate” tier and remains there for at least 8 weeks and
    • 2) San Mateo County reaches a vaccination rate of 90% of the total population.
  • Faculty who are not vaccinated must participate in weekly Covid testing. The District must make testing available for free on each campus at days and times faculty are performing duties or provide testing kits to faculty for free.
  • Classroom capacity will be lowered by 35% for every classroom to avoid overcrowding.
  • HEPA filters will be provided to faculty who work in spaces where ventilation and air filtration are not adequate.
  • The District will make readily accessible online a detailed exposures list of dates, times, buildings, and rooms where a person who tested positive for Covid-19 was present, without providing identifying information of the individual who tested positive.
  • If a faculty member has an adverse reaction to a Covid vaccination and requires medical treatment not covered by insurance, the District will cover the expenses.
    

Wednesday, November 17

The District offered responses to some of AFT’s proposals during our negotiation session on November 15th, and followed on Tuesday evening with an email response to the rest of the proposals. AFT then offered a counter-proposal to the District’s response during the November 17th session, with the District promising their next response by the beginning of our upcoming negotiation session on Tuesday, December 7^th.

AFT and the District have come to agreement on the following protections for faculty:

• All classes, whether online or in-person, will not be canceled so long as they achieve a minimum enrollment of 10 students.
• Full-time faculty will not be expected to perform more than 2 high-volume/high-demand professional duties. The District added the provision that faculty evaluations will be excluded from the 2 high-volume/high-demand duties, which AFT has accepted.
• Non-primary professional duties (ex. committee work) may be performed remotely. The District added the provision that this applies only where such duties are allowable to be performed remotely, which AFT has accepted.
• Faculty teaching classes that exceed 45 students on Census Day or 40 students on the last day to withdraw will continue to receive the same supplemental pay as in previous Covid MOUs.
• The backlog of evaluations for tenured faculty and continuing adjuncts will be handled as follows: faculty who were scheduled to be evaluated in Spring 2020, and were not evaluated that semester, will be evaluated in Spring 2022. Faculty scheduled to be evaluated in Spring 2021 will be evaluated in Spring 2023, and so on.
• Faculty who are not vaccinated against Covid must participate in weekly Covid testing. The District must make testing available for free on each campus and provide testing kits to faculty for free.

Unfortunately, we were unable to win the continuation of FFCRA-style leave (which expired under Federal law at the end of 2020) or the reduction of each classroom’s capacity by 35%. The District also indicated they were unwilling to consider paying adjuncts for time spent preparing to teach classes that are subsequently canceled, as our current contract does not provide for prep pay. We hope to take this issue up in bargaining for our next multiyear contract.

The following issues remain under discussion:

• On-campus hours for non-instructional faculty. AFT originally proposed that full-time counselors be required to be on-campus a maximum of 2 days per week, and that both full-time and part-time counselors have a maximum of 25% of student counseling appointments in person. The District countered with a proposal that all full-time non-instructional faculty be required to work on campus a minimum of 3 days per week (with the faculty member able to work the other 2 days remotely if they choose) and that part-time non-instructional faculty be required to work a minimum of 50% of their hours on campus, with the remainder remote if allowed by their dean. In response, AFT counter-proposed that full-timers be required to work on campus at most 3 days per week or 50% of their hours, while accepting the District’s proposal for part-time non-instructional faculty.
• Class caps. AFT advocated for keeping language from previous MOUs allowing for the reduction of class caps through the process defined by District Academic Senate. The District indicated that they do not want to continue allowing reductions through this process. AFT has accepted that class caps will no longer be subject to reduction through the DAS process; however, where classes have already had their caps lowered during the pandemic, AFT is proposing maintaining the lowered caps in Spring.
• Arrangements for faculty who need to quarantine or care for a household member who has to stay home. AFT had proposed that all faculty (instructional or non-instructional) who work in person and need to quarantine, or to care for a household member who needs to quarantine or a child who cannot attend school due to Covid-related reasons, may either pivot to online delivery or have the District appoint a substitute, without using accrued sick days. The District indicated that they are willing to allow these options in a narrower set of circumstances. AFT is advocating to have these arrangements available for all faculty who need them.
• Pool for donating sick days. The District struck AFT’s language establishing a pool into which faculty can donate sick days for use by faculty members who need to care for a child or family member and do not have sufficient sick time. AFT is once again proposing to establish the pool, as it could give vital help to some faculty at no cost to the District.
• Universal mask mandate. AFT proposed continuing universal indoor masking until San Mateo County meets the set of benchmarks we have specified (remaining in the Moderate transmission tier for 8 weeks and reaching a vaccination rate of 90% of the total population). The District has indicated that they want to follow the less stringent standards set forth by the County itself as minimums for considering repeal of county-wide indoor mask mandates. As AFT has argued, continuing universal indoor masking not only makes our campuses safer, but also provides more equitable treatment for students exempt from the vaccination requirement, who will have to continue wearing masks even if the county mask mandate is repealed.
• HEPA filters. AFT proposed that the District provide portable air purifiers with HEPA filters for all faculty working in spaces without adequate ventilation or air circulation. The District’s counter-proposal specified only that faculty concerned about the safety of their worksite may request an inspection. AFT wants to ensure that faculty will have access to an air purifier if ventilation or air circulation are found to be inadequate.
• Covid exposures list. AFT and the District are discussing the kinds of information that will be included on the Covid exposures list accessible online.
• Medical expenses for reactions to vaccination. AFT and the District are discussing whether the District will cover medical expenses incurred by faculty who have an adverse reaction to a Covid vaccination, provided that those expenses are not covered by insurance.

Upcoming bargaining dates:

• Tuesday, 12/7: 1-3 p.m.
• Wednesday, 12/8: 9 a.m.-noon