AFT Scholarships

AFT 1493 annual scholarship awarded to Skyline student Win Shwe Yee

by Marianne Kaletzky, AFT 1493 Executive Secretary

AFT 1493 was thrilled to award our annual AFT scholarship to Skyline student Win Shwe Yee at the May 5, 2022 Skyline Scholarship Awards Ceremony. Win Shwe is an economics major who hopes to transfer to San Diego State; after she finishes her four-year degree, she aims to use her study of economics to lead projects that raise the standard of living for working people in her home country of Burma. As Win Shwe Win Shwe Yee (center) is congratulated by Marianne Kaletzky, AFT 1493 Executive Secretary,
and Katharine Harer, AFT 1493 Co-Vice President

wrote in her application, “Although I have the privilege of being a first-generation college student, I came from a developing country where more than 70% of people try to survive on less than $2 a day, therefore one of my career goals is to contribute and develop sustainable economic growth in my country. To be specific, I have always been interested in the Hotel and Tourism industry and my goal is to contribute to the economy by developing sustainable tourism in Myanmar. One of the reasons is because we have a UNESCO site that is valued by the world and deserves to be preserved.”

Win Shwe doesn’t just dream of building infrastructure that provides jobs while giving back to the Burmese people: she’s already done it with her creation of Hand in Hand Tutoring Center, a tutoring service that provides job opportunities for recent graduates in Burma (who face rising unemployment following the February 2021 military coup) while also offering low-cost education to youth. Win Shwe reports that “After about 3 months we have over 40 classes in progress and are able to provide paid peer tutor opportunities to over 10 youths and internship opportunities to over 6 passionate young adults.”

AFT’s annual scholarship recognizes an exceptional student who demonstrates a clear commitment to social justice, especially worker justice. This year, our scholarship committee consisted of Salumeh Eslamieh of Cañada, David Laderman of CSM, and Katharine Harer of Skyline. The committee was inspired by Win Shwe’s dedication to preserving the natural environment and cultural heritage sites in Burma while also helping to expand opportunities for just, fairly paid employment. We are honored to award her the 2022 AFT 1493 Scholarship in recognition of her creativity, thoughtfulness, hard work, and true commitment to social justice.

Find an article here on our 2021 awardees, Nigel Hawkins of Cañada and Hannah Hersey of CSM.

District salary comparisons

How does SMCCCD adjunct instructional pay compare to neighboring districts?

[Note: This article has been updated to reflect SMCCCD’s new 2022-23 mirrored instructional adjunct salary schedule]

Despite significant increases in pay rates for SMCCCD adjunct instructional faculty over the last three-year contract, the actual pay-per-class compensation still lags behind the Marin and Mission/West Valley districts. Our district is also the only one of the six districts between San Jose and Marin that still continues to pay part-time instructors on an hourly rather than on a unit-load based rate. All of the other districts pay instructional adjunct faculty a set percentage of full-time instructional faculty (often referred to as a “parity’ percentage)—from 95% at Marin to 68.38% at San Jose/Evergreen—and adjunct instructional faculty in all of those other districts are paid on a “mirrored schedule” which has the same columns (reflecting educational levels) as full-time faculty. (For example, click here to view the Mission/West Valley district’s instructional adjunct faculty salary schedule.)

Adjunct faculty in our district are not paid at a set percentage of full-time faculty; the parity percentage depends on which step on the salary schedule and what educational level is compared. For example, an adjunct instructor at Step 1 with an MA makes 71% of a full-time instructor with the same experience and educational level, while a part-timer at Step 10 and has an MA plus 30 additional units makes 77.5% of a full-time instructor with the same experience and educational level. Paying by load rather than by hour provides a clear and equitable way to set adjunct instructional faculty pay rates at a uniform parity percentage of full-time faculty. In the last round of contract negotiations AFT and the District agreed to form a group to study the logistics of moving to load-based pay for adjunct instructors in the next contract.

Comparison of 2022-23 Adjunct Instructional Faculty Compensation
for SMCCCD and Neighboring Districts
Based on teaching one 3-unit class

Click on the linked name of each district in the chart above to view the salary schedules for that district.
SMCCCD: Calculation to translate hourly rate to 3-unit load: Hourly Rate x Hours/Week (3) x Weeks/Semester (17.5) + Office Hour Rate x Weeks/Semester (17.5)
* 2022-23 rates (SMCCCD, Mission/WV, SJ/Evergreen); * 2021-22 rates (Marin, CCSF);
* Foothill schedule is from 2019-20 (no newer schedule has been negotiated)
BA – “Basic Aid”/”Community-supported” districts

The District has agreed to an ongoing commitment that, until SMCCCD achieves the parity goal of 85% for instructional adjuncts, the District will commit funds to closing the parity gap over and above the money it makes available for compensation and benefits improvements for all faculty. (Because the parity percentages of adjunct non-instructional faculty pay rates are currently significantly higher than those of instructional faculty, those rates will not reflect those increases made specifically for instructional faculty; adjunct non-instructional faculty will continue to receive the same percentage pay increases as negotiated for all faculty.)

New “Mirrored Schedule” begins in Fall 2022

One of the final items the District agreed to in the last round of contract negotiations was to give adjunct instructors all 25 experience-based salary steps currently available to full-timers, rather than the 11 that adjuncts currently have. Beginning in Fall 2022, instructional adjuncts will therefore have a full “mirrored schedule” with all the steps (to recognize experience) and columns (to recognize education) that full-timers have. The new schedule will be created by making Steps 1-11 on the 2021-2022 adjunct instructional schedule Steps 1-11 of the Master’s column on the new schedule, then building out the other columns and steps using the percentage differences between columns and steps on the full-time salary schedule. The following special conditions will apply:

• Adjunct instructors with a Master’s, MA+45 units, MA+60 units, or PhD/EdD/JD will be placed into the column corresponding to that degree.
• Adjunct instructors who do not have a Master’s, and who are on a 2021-2022 SMCCD seniority list, will be placed into the Master’s column.
• Adjunct instructors who have been at Step 11 for at least three years will be placed at Step 14. All other adjunct instructors will be placed one step above their 2021-2022 step.

With the establishment of the new mirrored schedule, all adjunct instructional faculty members received some pay increases, but those with higher levels of education will receive greater pay bumps.

PART-TIME FACULTY

Reminders to adjunct faculty:
– Apply for unemployment benefits after end of the semester
– Submit medical reimbursement forms by June 15

Unemployment compensation benefits

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. As soon as you give your last final exam, you should contact the local Employment Development Department (EDD) office and file a claim, or reactivate the one you have from summer (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 be available as directed for interviews and follow-up questions. You should not have any problems, but if you have any questions or are denied for any reason, contact Marianne Kaletzky in the AFT office (kaletzky@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!

Medical reimbursement forms due by December 31st

The SMCCCD medical reimbursement program reimburses employee-incurred health benefit premium costs to all part-time hourly academic employees who complete a 40% or more of a full-time load in the District and meet other eligibility criteria. The Fall 2021 MOU between AFT and the District specifies that 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. Reimbursements are issued strictly for monthly health premiums and do not include dental premiums, copays, or any other costs incurred for medical procedures/services. The program reimburses part-time faculty up to $3,305.00 per semester.

How to apply for a medical reimbursement:

1.    Meet all eligibility criteria listed on application.

2.    Complete Part-Time Faculty Medical Reimbursement Application.

3.    Provide proof of medical plan coverage and premium payments, proof must show name, amounts paid and dates. To avoid any delays in processing, we also ask that you submit sufficient proof to justify the reimbursement amount you are requesting.

4.    Submit requests no later than Friday, December 31, 2021.

5.    Submit your application and supporting documents via e-mail to George Sampior, Jr. in the Human Resources Department at: sampiorg@smccd.edu

6.    To receive reimbursement through direct deposit, please complete the ACH form and submit to Victoria Lin in Accounts Payable at linv@smccd.edu. If you already submitted one in the past there is no need to submit  another one. Please note, Payroll Direct Deposit and ACH Direct Deposit are NOT the same.

Please contact George Sampior, Jr. with any questions.